[shagie]

When I was in California in the 00-09 timeframe I recall the facilities manager had an ambient orb at their desk that was provided by PG&E ( http://www.ambientdevices.com/technology/utility-deployment ). It would change color based on the grid demand hinting to people who had co-generation ability to turn on power if its needed and would start flashing if a rolling blackout was going to occur in the near future. The ambient orb (IIRC) utilizes the pager network - so the information is there if you can subscribe to it.

Ambient also has http://www.ambientdevices.com/about/energy-devices which again has the power information (including cost/kWh) that one could tap into... if the local power company supplies the information.