Wow. The guys on that inspectors forum seem to take great joy in finding interpretations making something illegal. So you might have some trouble getting it past your local inspector and would need to ask beforehand. It looks to me like it should meet the intent if you had enough of them to match the standard fixed receptacle requirement, and if the UL testing covered the specific type of installation. I don't see why they are comparing this to an extension cord from another room. If the UL testing covered the flexible cord as part of the device, I see no added hazard. You aren't going to overload it, walk on it, or trip over it. Some of them even seemed to be ok with the safety of the cord, but wouldn't count it as meeting the requirement for a kitchen counter. Seems to me if you have the required number always available for use, how it is connected is unimportant.

I have limited upper cabinets but lots of windows. My electrician (with my guidance) put the outlets landscape orientation, generally under the window sills, in the 5-6 inch space between the bottom of the window molding and the top of the counter. I do think the landscape orientation is less ugly than the typical portrait orientation. Also, in the island, I wanted an outlet on the front working side of the island, so we had our microwave drawer cabinet extended at the top, to make a 5-6 inch wide panel on the one side of the microwave, so it's just below the counter top (with a full width drawer below). In that panel, there is an outlet. This is conveniently located close to the middle of the working side of the island. If you are doing custom cabinets, you could do that if needed on some lower cabinets, but I'd rather do them in the backsplash in general, as it seems safer and less cumbersome in general. Oh, don't forget about air switches for garbage disposal. That saves you one switch for each garbage disposal. :) I didn't decide to use plug mold (mainly because the sight of the cords hanging down from above seems uglier than the outlets themselves) but, if you like the plug mold idea, I wonder if you could hide plug mold under window sills or molding if you have windows above the counter?

You want the cut outs in the granite made in the shop on the CNC machine or with a water jet. Jimmy and his grinder on site are going to have to make the stone significantly weaker to get a nice square. You don't want "square" square either. A bit oversized with radii in the corners is much stronger, like the bit on a CNC machine would make. I broke a backsplash while removing it because of the over-cutting that was done by hand to make the duplex receptacle hole. Fortunately this stone was quite forgiving.

I am using them only for the island. They will be accessible trhough access in the back of a cabinet should the need arise to replace. We do a TON of work from home work on our kitchen island, and therefore a plug in the island is necessary. Also - I am not a fan of hanging cords over the edge when using beaters or Cuisinart, etc. The will be placed along the centerline over 24" back - less likely to be in the completely messy zone. In the actual counter - I'll use plugmold down low.