back to article Google Energy gets OK

Google has been granted a license to trade energy on the wholesale market, as well as retail it to the consumer market. The approval comes from the US Federal energy regulator FERC. Google made the request quietly on the day before Christmas Eve, via its new subsidiary Google Energy. California's public utilities commission …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Good news for freetards!

    Like most services, I hope they will give out free energy!

    1. Sarev
      Alert

      free energy

      Of course they would, but it'd only be Beta quality energy

    2. nickrw

      Title title title

      It's in beta, may not be compatible with all your household appliances.

  2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
    Big Brother

    Would it not ...

    Would it not be easier to just list the pies GoogleMegaCorp has not git its sticky fingers in ?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Nick the greek

      Got all 20 greedy little fingers and toes into every juicy little pie they can get into.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Of course

    Purchasing the energy wholesale is going to save them millions each year, considering the amount they consume with their datacentres.

    If only all those machines ran on love. But alas...

  4. Keller Drozdick

    generators?

    "...datacenters are vast generators..." Er, methinks you meant consumers, perhaps?

  5. James 5

    World domination..

    "Google's reasons for trading energy Enron-style, or retailing it to homes or businesses remain obscure"

    Their own Web, everyone's information and data, Energy supplies, telecommunications - all world-wide. Then they'll move into food supplies / production, then set up their own military - missiles, army, navy, airforce ...

    ... by then it'll be too late - Google will rule the world.

    Unless ! 007 - Bond, James Bond - can save the world and destroy the mad Google fiends in their tropical island bunkers.

    Forget Al Quaeda - the real threat to world stability is Google !

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Alert

      Need the fluffy cat, though

      We'll be in trouble once they acquire a white persian cat.

    2. Cantab
      Grenade

      Re: world domination

      ...Quick look up their bases on Google maps!

      Wait a second....

  6. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Hold on

    "To gain approval, Google had to assure the regulator it doesn't own or operate transmission or generation facilities"

    I might have misunderstood something here, but don't you need a method of transmission in order to trade?

    1. Eddy Ito

      My thought exactly

      I can clearly show that I own neither transmission or generation facilities, so why can't I be licensed? Besides not having enough "grease" for the proper palm, I mean.

      Perhaps the rational is that traders aren't be allowed to have the ability to grossly influence the market in pseudo-monopoly fashion? I wonder if pork traders are allowed to own railroads or pigs or butter churns... hmm, a bacon butty sounds good right about now.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Nope

      It sounds sensible enough from a compliance point of view. Say you are actually a electricity generator, if you could deal directly you could game the market by buying futures contracts at the current price, turn off your power generating plant, sending prices up, sell contracts, turn generation back on again.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Pretty obvious imho...

    Why is it unclear? By doing this they can hedge their large power consumption against market movements, without having to pay someone a nice chunk of change to do it.

    I know the reg isn't anywhere near as cerebral as ft.com, but maybe have a think about what their business runs on...

    As for the conspiracy theorists, I think all of us are nervous about the vast amount of personal data they are collecting, but I don't think this is part of their master plan! (It just makes the plan cheaper....!)

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    robocop anyone?

    Just waiting for Google to change their name to OCP. We know everything about you, we own the police and the government and you are only allowed to do what the corporation says you can do.

    1. xantastic
      Thumb Up

      Criterion Collection

      I am finding myself referencing this movie more and more. Detroit is certainly looking very similar to its dystopian portrayal ...

  9. bobbles31
    Coat

    Buy n large

    When they offer to clean up the Internet of all the trash I will be really worried!

    Mines the one witho a handle for mo on the back

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