Month: May 2015

So Mr and Mrs. South Bayview, how does a wall battery that stores power from any source — the grid or solar — sound to you? This concept has been given new interest by Tesla Energy, an off-shoot of the car company. It is designed to “smooth out” the ups and down of power flow and particularly to give you power when the wires go down. That’s what Hydro One calls going off grid. The Tesla concept raises again the enormously sensible idea of homes that are semi-independent of Big Hydro. Imagine the peace of mind and sheer convenience during something like the ice storm of 2013? So much more sensible than ugly windmills marching across Southwestern Ontario.

Peter Wallace is slated to become the City of Toronto’s new manager. He will replace Joe Pennachetti who has retired.  Mr.Wallace is a former secretary of the cabinet of the provincial cabinet. He reportedly was able to speak to the police about plans by some to erase the contents of computers in the Premier’s office following exposure of the Hydro plants scandal.  Mr. Wallace retired as head of the Ontario bureaucracy last year after more than 30 years working for the province. Since then, according to the Globe and Mail, he has been a visiting fellow with the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance. While serving as Ontario’s top bureaucrat, Mr. Wallace repeatedly warned the Liberal government its plan for balancing the budget would require significant program cuts. He has been quoted as saying that the government’s debt reduction targets were so ambitious “it’s not even funny. … More directly, this is more gravy than [Toronto mayor Rob] Ford even promised to look for.”