Dem Senators Want Obama to Check Speculation Mkts, PV Installations Up 109%, Harris Poll -Consumer Interest in SmartGridri

Democratic lawmakers are concerned that President Obama has not done enough to push back speculative trading which they say threatens to drive gas prices up and wreck  our fledgling economy.    Last week 71 Democratis signed a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week complaining that it hasn’t done enough to check speculation in the energy markets — a responsibility that’s part of the Dodd-Frank regulations limiting how many crude oil contracts can be held by individual banks and investment funds.   Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said he believes Obama could avoid the political beating he’s taking from gas prices averaging $3.80 per gallon by clamping down on the financial sector.

Photovoltaic installations totaled 1,855 megawatts last year, a 109 percent jump from the amount installed in 2010, according to a Solar Energy Industries Association report released Wednesday. Cumulative U.S. PV capacity now stands at 3,954 MW, eight states installed over 50 MW each and the average PV system price fell 20 percent, module prices fell 50 percent.

A new Harris poll says almost half (48%) of the 2,056 people surveyed online would likely install and manage a computerized dashboard in their homes to control energy use and cut their power bills. The 48% number sounds surprisingly high, particularly considering that many observers and industry analysts have repeatedly said consumers are not likely to adopt new energy saving technologies if they need to take the time to monitor and manage it. Harris says 31% of survey participants said they are neither likely or unlikely to install the device and 21% are definitely unlikely to do so.