Google has been getting scarier and scarier as they stretch their tendrils into different markets. The latest announcement from Google is that they're getting into the Smart Grid technology.
Google will announce its entry Tuesday into the small but growing business of "smart grid," digital technologies that seek to both keep the electrical system on an even keel and reduce electrical energy consumption.
Google is one of a number of companies devising ways to control the demand for electric power as an alternative to building more power plants. The company has developed a free Web service called PowerMeter that consumers can use to track energy use in their house or business as it is consumed.
Google is counting on others to build devices to feed data into PowerMeter technology. While it hopes to begin introducing the service in the next few months, it has not yet lined up hardware manufacturers.
Personally, I'm starting to becoming concerned with what Google is becoming. Something like the Smart Grid sounds great in theory, but the access to when and where I run electronics in my house and the ability to selectively limit or shut off my electronics remotely is worrying. Combine that with Google's already massive data mining and data storage abilities, and things start to get interesting.
