Comments on: Google and GE team up on clean-energy policy, tech

Giants in their respective fields, the two companies plan to lobby for government energy policies to modernize the electrical grid and promote renewable energies.

[cyrano71]

Since the wind energy business profits GE so much, let them pay for their own transmission grid. Taxes should not be taken from me to enrich GE shareholders. When did parasitism become okay in this country?

[thriftyT]

cyrano71...

The ends often don't justify the means...
But in this case, if a certain company (or companies) benefit from doing something that benefits us all...
Then the end may justify the means.

[CheffPJ]

"Although it's not directly related to its core search business, Google and its top executives have been active in the renewable energy business."

This is actual not true considering the massive data centers required to run Google's "search business" and all their other technologies. We're talking about (debatable) the world's largest super computer.

[rdif-embedded]

GE should build part of the transmission grid just like construction companies build highways and then charge toll. I'm sorry but the government right now has no money and still spending loads of it to clean up Wall Street's mess.

[blarson42]

Having huge wind farms and then transporting the energy long distances is NOT the only model for power generation. The energy source needs to be LOCAL so there is no need to pay billions of dollars to a middleman. This is nothing but a taxpayer bailout of the energy companies that never bothered to upgrade their systems.

[MD_Willington]

So does the google software work with any meter other than a GE meter, GE is not the meter maker.

If the software does not work with a meter other than GE's isn't that a monopoly?

[jwrgorman]

Smart meters are great the way the hydrogen car is "great". But you don't need General Electric's permission to log and analyse you own consumption and renewable generation and collaborate - there's an open source project called:

http://www.solarnetwork.net/

which is already building the open platform.