Google is retiring its home energy management software after just two years.
The company wrote in its blog that the Google PowerMeter application hasn’t caught on with users, but that it did help raise awareness about the importance of giving people access to their energy usage data.
PowerMeter was unveiled in February 2009 by Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org. It was designed to gather information from a home’s smart meter (or appliances with energy monitoring capabilities) and display it on the homeowner’s computer.
Competitor Microsoft launched Hohm, a similar application, just months later. It presumably also met with similar disinterest, because Microsoft announced in April that it would reconfigure the software in collaboration with Ford to focus on electric vehicle charging.
The two software companies were ahead of the curve in introducing the software, as the majority of the country still does not have smart meters, and those that are installed generally come with pre-packaged dedicated software.
Google didn’t say whether it would reintroduce the software in the future, but PowerMeter, or a similar application, could come back 5-10 years when homeowners are accustomed to monitoring their energy usage and begin looking for the kind of customization and integration that Google offers through its many desktop apps.
PowerMeter and another application, Google Health, will be discontinued on September 16.
"By helping people make more informed decisions through greater access to more information, we believe Google Health and PowerMeter have been trailblazers in their respective categories. Ultimately though, we want to satisfy the most pressing needs for the greatest number of people. In the case of these two products, our inability to scale has led us to focus our priorities elsewhere," says Google in the blog.
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SMART METERS LINKED TO CANCER.
Utilities and Health Departments based previous safety claims on World Health Organization (WHO).
But June 2011, WHO says Wireless Smart Meter radiation is linked to CANCER (possible human carcinogen – same as Lead, DDT, etc), and that means it also damages bodies & brains (including children’s) in many ways, other than cancer.
1. WIRELESS SMART METERS – 100 TIMES MORE RADIATION THAN CELL PHONES.
Video Interview: Nuclear Scientist, Daniel Hirsch, (5 minutes).
http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/04/20/daniel-hirsch-on-ccsts-fuzzy-math/
2. WIRELESS SMART METERS – CANCER, NERVOUS SYSTEM DAMAGE, ADVERSE REPRODUCTION AFFECTS.
Video Interview: Dr. Carpenter, New York Public Health Department, Dean of Public Health, (2 minutes).
http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=3946
3. THE KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE IN STOCKHOLM (the University that gives the Nobel Prizes) ISSUES GLOBAL HEALTH WARNING AGAINST WIRELESS SMART METERS.
2-page Press Release:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/48148346/Karolinska-Institute-Press-Release
MISREPRESENTATIONS OF WIRELESS SMART METERS.
1. The utility information generated by Wireless smart meters is NOT real-time and it is NOT formatted for customer use so it does NOT assist customers to use less energy or lower their utility bills. The information only assists the Utility Company to bill customers and shut off customer power remotely.
2. In countries where Wireless smart meters are being installed, energy use is NOT decreasing, customer UTILITY BILLS ARE INCREASING, there are problems with SECURITY, HACKING, ELECTRICAL FIRES & ELECTRICAL INTERFERENCE.
3. The Utility companies are salivating over eliminating the jobs of the full-time-with-benefit meter reader employees and replacing them with phone operators in India and the Philippines who read scripts to customers over the phone for $4 per day with-NO-Benefits. And the savings are NOT passed on to customers.
4. Wireless smart meters are NOT mandated by the US Federal Energy Program, as California’s PG$E pretends.
5. 42 Cities & Counties in California have taken positions AGAINST Wireless smart meters and 13 have passed Ordinances prohibiting Wireless meter installation.
ALSO: every appliance has or will have its own electronic signature, so yes, Wireless smart meters will give your exact activity information to the utility company and the government will have access to every move you make in your home. Existing analog meters only provide total usage and therefore protect your privacy.
High-tech home robbers (and HIGH-TECH CHILD MOLESTERS) will also hack this information and know exactly your habits and when you are not home (and WHEN YOUR CHILDREN ARE HOME).
Google doesn’t know what they’re going to miss out on in this energy market. Check out IntwineEnergy.com–hese guys know what they are doing.