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1. Obama Vows to Stabilize Fuel Prices, Calls for Reform

   President Barack Obama says the country cannot drill its way out of dependence on foreign oil and exposure to chaotic swings in oil prices, in response to Republican attacks calling for loosened regulations on domestic oil extraction. Obama said he was prepared to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if needed, but didn't say how high prices would have to get for that to happen.

   Submitted by Jeff St. John

2. Two-Week Deadline for PG&E’s SmartMeter Opt-Out Plan

   The president of the California Public Utilities Commission has ordered utility Pacific Gas and Electric to come up with a plan to let customer opt out of getting a wireless smart meter at their home, all within two weeks. While many studies show no reason to suspect the meters are a health risk, a handful of northern California protesters appear to have forced the CPUC's hand.

   Submitted by Jeff St. John

3. EnergyHub Launches Direct to Consumer Home Energy Strategy

   Startup EnergyHub plans to start selling its home energy management dashboards directly to consumers for the first time starting on Sunday at the Sough by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. No word yet on how much it will cost.

   Submitted by Jeff St. John

4. BP Expands in Brazilian Biofuels with $680 Million Buy

   BP is spending $680 million to buy an 83 percent stake in a Brazilian sugar cane milling group Companhia Nacional de Acucar e Alcool, more than tripling its Brazilian ethanol production capacity. It's the latest in a series of big Brazilian sugarcane-to-ethanol deals, including Shell's $12 billion deal with Cosan to make both sugar-based and cellulosic ethanol.

   Submitted by Jeff St. John

5. IBM’s New Smarter Buildings Solution: More BAM from Your BMS

   Pike Research's Eric Bloom does a deep dive into IBM's latest platforms to link building energy management systems from partners like Johnson Controls and Schneider Electric. It's all part of a larger effort to link cities and companies in an enterprise-level view of resource management — something that companies like Cisco, Microsoft and HP are also working on.

   Submitted by Jeff St. John

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