I received a really interesting email tip with a graphic attached.
There is a website up and running at http://www.gainesville-green.com. Apparently, the City of Gainesville has granted Gainesville-Green.com access to its electric usage data, including to your house, if you happen to be on Gainesville Regional Utilities. Using Gainesville-Green.com’s sophisticated mapping, you can look up pretty much anybody’s electric usage, and anybody can look up yours.
When you visit the site, you can focus the mapping software in on neighborhoods and see who is using the most electricity and who is using the least. Each house on the map is tagged with a color-coded pin. Green is good and red is bad and there are shades of yellow and orange in between. Unfortunately, this potentially exposes you to possible ridicule, derision and retribution by enviro-nuts.
The bottom line is that the City of Gainesville isn’t granting you the privilege of any personal privacy with regard to your energy usage – unless you happen to be a city commissioner with a possibly high usage.
Let’s revisit that graphic on the right. Every house in that neighborhood is tagged, except for one. I added the red “X” to clearly identify the house that GRU did not provide usage data for.
Whose house is it? Susan Bottcher’s.
Thanks for the post PJ… I consider
My electric and water usage to be
Private non-public information..
I don’t remember being NOTIFIED
By GRU or the C of G that my
Private information was being put put
There so I can be profiled and personal
Data collected on me by strangers…
It’s more of that socialist green carbon
Footprint crap the liberals are going
Hook, line, & sinker for…you know,
The solar FIT program and tree
Burning biomass plant crap…we don’t
Have carbon legislation but Queen P,
Craig, Hawkins, Bottcher, that goofy
Bald commissioner, and Sherwin go
Nutter for that European socialism…
I think traffic cams are an invasion
Of privacy too…thanks for keeping us
Informed.
That info is private financial info….
Giving it to a third party is probably
A violation of the Gramm Bliley Leach
Act (not sure of the spelling)…you
Know, that same disclosure notice
That banks and credit card companys
Have to notify you about how they use
And disclose your financial info to and
To whom, etc.
EnergyIT and Acceleration.net are family-owned businesses headquartered in Gainesville, FL.
Do they pay taxes? Are they registered to do business in Florida?
They have your electrical consumption data from GRU. Why?
Wonder if Queen P is involved in this?
The original Gainesville Green had nothing to do with energy. Just saying.
If you are showing my house Then botchers should beI tell right now my house is 100 out of 100
I use the most.Why Somebody’s always home.my wife works at night. My alaskan malamutes
demand a 70degree temp .Yet in the last year i’ve gut my bill by 50% by doing the weathering . and the fall
a new efficient a/c is on the agenda. My right, my money no ones business.
If you are tattling on me then Mrs Bottcher’ s should also be spotted
Having been in her home I can tell it’s a nice house that is perfectly appointed a large swimming pool
and perfectly semetrical landscaping Plus another building that is her husband’s commercial office.
What she pays is her business. Mine run from a winter low (gas) about $200.00
to a summer high of $496.00 if i’m a red spot transparency say’s what is the color of Mrs.Bottchers spot.
wow PJ how’s that for agreeing
Comm. Bottcher has large (like, very large) solar panels on her house. I’m not even sure that the home takes a positive amount of electricity from the grid, which would explain the lack of data.
Susan Botchers home may be off the grid or not connected to GRU. That would explain why there is no data for that location.
However, there seems to be no record of a permit filed for the installation of a solar system at that address.
Could it be that she had not paid the appropriate fee’s for the solar system that she has installed on her home?
That could not happen. She would comply with existing laws and file the required permits, wouldn’t she?
Is Susan Botcher above the law?
Am I in danger of her putting a hex on me?
The FIT is such a scam on the
Ratepayers…net metering should pay the
Same as FIT…if you like solar,
Buy your own, don’t have me
Subsidize it…
If the house is off grid, then it is not a FIT home. It is interesting that there is no record of permits pulled on the project.
That is worth more research. Maybe Garrett would like to ‘splain this one away.
If Botcher has a solar system installed without the appropriate fee’s paid and oversight then the city needs to look more closely. No telling what type of code violations and safety hazards exist.
Seems to be a case of I don’t have to follow the rules that the proletariat must.
Time for a revolution. Where is my pitchfork?
What are the requirements for installing a solar electric system? I would imagine that a permit of some kind is needed. What is the penalty for not adhering to the requirements?
There must be some opt-out clause. I have to look into this.
in the ‘Submit Feedback’ …for ‘Feedback Type’ select ‘Opt Out My GRU Account’…follow the instructions
Maybe Pj
Mrs Bottcher Opted Out No conspiracy here move along
is GRU selling the data? Like the DMV?
because her electric use was sky high and she wants to be able to sit on the dais and tell us HOW to live while she does something else.
If you look at Google’s Street View of that location you’ll see the giant solar panels on the roof of the home. Probably not as “sky high” as you mistakenly believe.
Who put on these solar panels? When were they installed? FIT scam?
That is it. She is off the grid and provides power to GRU.
NO conspiracy, please take the tin foil hat off.
Get over yourself no conspiracy Mrs botcher has solar panels she spent the money on them she get’s use all the power from them she and dell want
Have you ever been diagnosed as having a split personality?
When I opted out, I got a blue color code, not the “x” that is on Bottcher’s house. Wonder why the difference???? EnergyIT claims it the usage is public information and available under the Florida Sunshine laws. I think we ought to complain to our state reps that this sort of usage of our information is not appropriate. I still complained that they were taking the info and interpreting it (red- you’re an energy hog or green- you are good little consumer) but there is no explanation as to how the colors are assigned. If it is just energy use without any consideration to square footage then it is really not helpful. It is just too “big brother” for my taste. Unnecessary and not helpful. A big mistake for GRU on the public relations front in my opinion.
I wonder if Progress, Clay, &. FPL
give out my electrical financial
Information to a third party? If they
Discriminate against people for using
More or less power…I don’t want the
Banks, stock brokers or anyone else
Sharing my private financial info with a
3rd party without me being notified either.
This is private financial info….very
Big brother…it’s those German socialists
Somehow trying to profit on our
Carbon footprints…the same krautz
That pushed the solar FIT and then
Sold out.
How is my electrical consumption or that of my neighbor subject to sunshine laws?
This is an intrusion and is an obvious attempt to denigrate those that have high utility bills.
I wonder why people opt out? I guess
They feel that is private info and
No ones’ business…they should make
The program everyone is opted out
Unless you want to opt in.
What is next an map from GRUnet showing people who look at porn?
This just creeps me out, and you wonder why we don’t like red light cameras.
Thank god there are some real
Americans out there that believe
In personal Responsibilty, peace,
Freedom, and liberty. All the toll
Booths will not take money soon
And you will need a sun-pass.
Your tag gets photographed and
You get a ticket…also can read
If tag is bad, warrants, and records
Your location too…smart phones also
Track your location by GPS and can
Look down on you in real time by
Google maps…all comunications on
Internet looked at and stored in
Memory forever. Eye in the sky.
I’m a real American.Love my country
What do you define as a real american?
What does a fake american look like?
I’m going to keep screaming my head off for GRU to provide more public records, then criticize them when they do. That’s not hypocritical at all, right?
With love,
Fake Politix Junkie
@alachuapolitix
are you just making stuff up now Fake PJ(Garret)?
The secret here is more dastardly than I ever could have thought. Check my Twitter feed: This isn’t just an invasion of privacy. It’s an attempt on our very lives, dear readers.
Concerned,
Fake Politix Junkie
@alachuapolitix
Dear Garret and/or your merry band of followers – stop bogarting traffic. Just like a Democrat – a parasite.
This is no joke, Traffic Cop.
The least efficient houses are GRU’s first targets for taxpayer-funded destructed. My coal-fired living-room-to-bedroom mini-train must have put me on top of their list. I guess the endangered seal fat insulation wasn’t helping my case.
Fake Politix Junkie
@alachuapolitix
My apologies: that would be “destruction,” dear readers. I’m afraid I have bigger things on my mind than spelling at the moment.
Give Packer back the bong, please. Sad thing is, this program may put some in the path of environ-terrorists. It is just a matter of time.
Here’s a deal, PJ (and I know it’s you). If someone actually uses the public records presented on Gainesville-Green.com for an act of eco-terrorism, then I’ll reveal my identity as the fake Twitterer, donate the $200 reward to the REC and change my registration to the goddamned Libertarian Party.
Until that event, which will never fucking happen, you’re participating in needless exaggeration and fearmongering — your favorite pastime, and exactly the sort of thing that makes the blog so fun to lampoon.
Blogs and citizen-powered journalism have an important role in today’s media landscape. It’s possible to disagree without making an ass out of yourself with repeated falsities and scare tactics. I’m posting silly things. As long as the source material is equally out there, it’s not hard.
Spitballs from the back of the classroom earn snickers from friends, not changed minds. If you want to be taken seriously, cite your sources, avoid personal attacks, and ensure the veracity of tips you post: Three things you’re not doing now.
Are you saying that there is no such thing as eco-terrorists?
Or are you saying that there are no eco-terrorists in Gainesville?
They are here and are emboldened by sites like gainesville-green.
A few years back, eco-terrorists were vandalizing SUV’s downtown by splashing them with acid. Approximately 40 vehicles were damaged.
It is not a stretch to think that the information provided on the website could be used to target individuals with high electric consumption. It is only a matter of time.
Lots of people thought that 911 would never f*@king happen, after all.
Since you are a coward that must mock those that you disagree with, I can not believe that you would honor your offer.
It is not difficult to ID you. Maybe YOU should be targeted.
On UF campus, professors being
Stalked and threatened if using live
Animals for research..fake junkie,
You’re a very educated idiot with
No common sense. You even hide
Your identity on this blog. You’re
A hypocrite.
Hey Curtain Very Cool
the Snickers are they chocolate and nuts maybe frozen?
PJ, did you check all the city
Commissioners to see if they
Opted out like The wicked witch?
Did you check to see if queen p
Opted out too? On another note,
I was told Hawkins blocks his property
Tax info off the tax rolls.
Was there a public meeting about
Putting our personal & private
utility consumption out there? I
Don’t remember a discussion on it…
Was this thing passed under the
Secret agenda, the consent agenda?
They use the consent agenda
when they want
To get something sneaky past the
Citizens…
As usual the liars here are lying. William Thomas Hawkins Jr.’s tax records for a small house in the Pleasant St neighborhood worth $92,100 are easily found on Ed Crapo’s property appraiser website. Are you stupid, a liar or both?
Thank you for the research. Can you look up Susan Bottcher?
When I looked it up when he was
Running for re-election it was not
Listed..,he did not list his home on
His financial disclosure form, but that
Was not mandatory…if it is there now,
Thank you for the correction… Not
Stupid or a liar or both, buy you are
An asshole for making that comment.
Searched for Thomas Hawkins what
He goes by.. Did not know his 1st
Name was William… Definetly not
A liar…not stupid either…he ran
And goes by Thomas Hawkins and
That was on the voter card…there
Is a logical explanation and that’s a
Fact jack.