MacBook Pro System CPU Spikes When Unplugged

Question

Upgraded to Mavericks a few days ago and,whenever I unplug my MacBook Pro 13" (Early 2011 - 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 - 16GB RAM 1333MHz) and run just on the battery, my system CPU usage goes through the roof which results in my Mac running/responding very slowly and buggy.
However, looking at the iStat widget on my dashboard, it's reporting that my CPU isn't running hot nor does my MacBook Pro feel hot at all. It's also showing that I still have 10GB of RAM free.
As expected, once my magsafe is reattached to my laptop and plugged back in, the system CPU returns to a normal level. In Activity Monitor, it shows kernel_task as being the culprit.
I queried the log as suggested by Linc and TextEdit had something for me:
Dec 10 15:51:31 My-MBP kernel[0] <Debug>: Process Setup Assistant [307] disabling system-wide I/O Throttling
Anyone have any idea what this could be? Seems like it should be a simple software config but I just don't know.
Additionally, I also ran EtreCheck. These are the results when it's running unplugged:
Hardware Information:
          MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)
          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
          1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores
          16 GB RAM
Video Information:
          Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
Audio Plug-ins:
          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
          AirPlay: Version: 1.9 - SDK 10.9
          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0 - SDK 10.9
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
System Software:
          OS X 10.9 (13A603) - Uptime: 1 day 18:10:35
Disk Information:
          M4-CT128M4SSD2 disk0 : (128.04 GB)
                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    SSD Macbook Pro (disk0s2) /: 127.18 GB (68.53 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
          MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898 
USB Information:
          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
          Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
          Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Kernel Extensions:
Problem System Launch Daemons:
Problem System Launch Agents:
Launch Daemons:
          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
          [loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
          [loaded] com.barebones.authd.plist
          [loaded] com.github.GitHub.GHInstallCLI.plist
          [loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist
          [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
          [loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist
Launch Agents:
          [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
          [loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist
          [failed] com.extensis.FMCore.plist
          [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist
          [loaded] com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist
          [loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist
          [loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist
          [loaded] com.wacom.pentablet.plist
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist
User Launch Agents:
          [loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
          [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist
          [failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[redacted]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
          [loaded] com.codecm.uploader.plist
          [loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist
          [loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist
          [loaded] de.municode.Ephemera.plist
User Login Items:
          ShiftIt
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Air Display Preferences
          PenTablet
          DivX
          Flash Player
          Flip4Mac WMV
          Growl
          Java
          Logitech Control Center
          Perian
Internet Plug-ins::
          OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.0
          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.8
          Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6
          AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.8
          googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010
          AdobeExManDetect: Version: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 - SDK 10.7
          iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7
          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6
          AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6
          WidevineMediaTransformer: Version: (null)
          npgtpo3dautoplugin: Version: 0.1.44.29 - SDK 10.5
          DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2
          OVSHelper: Version: 1.1
          Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6
          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
          Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.2.4
          o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010
          SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.0
          WacomTabletPlugin: Version: WacomTabletPlugin 2.0.0.4
          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 11 Outdated! Update
          WacomNetscape: Version: 1.1.1-1
User Internet Plug-ins::
          WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.5
          SlingPlayer: Version: (null)
Bad Fonts:
          None
Old applications:
          Cisco WebEx Meeting Center:          Version: 11.24.32.0 - SDK 10.5
                    /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/WebEx Folder/1224/Meeting Center.app
          Edge:          Version: 0.10.0 - SDK 10.5
                    /Applications/Adobe Edge Preview/Edge.app
          FacebookVideoCalling:          Version: 1.2.0.157 - SDK 10.5
                    /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Facebook/video/1.2.0.158/FacebookVideoCalling.app
          Microsoft AutoUpdate:          Version: 2.3.3 - SDK 10.4
                    /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app
          SLLauncher:          Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.5
                    /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Silverlight/OutOfBrowser/SLLauncher.app
          Transmit:          Version: 4.2 - SDK 10.5
                    /Applications/Transmit.app
          VLC:          Version: 2.0.1 - SDK 10.5
                    /Applications/VLC.app
          WhatSize:          Version: 5.2.1 - SDK 10.5
                    /Applications/WhatSize.app
          asannotation2:          Version: 8.25.31.0 - SDK 10.5
                    /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/WebEx Folder/1224/asannotation2.app
          atmsupload:          Version: 4.14.29.0 - SDK 10.5
                    /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/WebEx Folder/1224/atmsupload.app
          convertpdf:          Version: 1.2 - SDK 10.5
                    /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/WebEx Folder/1224/convertpdf.app
          dynamiclinkmanager:          Version: 6.0.0 - SDK 10.5
                    /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/dynamiclink/CS6/dynamiclinkmanager.app
          dynamiclinkmediaserver:          Version: 6.0.1 - SDK 10.5
                    /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/dynamiclinkmediaserver/1.0/dynamiclinkmediaserver.app
Time Machine:
          Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU:
               8%          mds
               7%          WindowServer
               5%          Dock
               3%          EtreCheck
               1%          Google Chrome
Top Processes by Memory:
          180 MB          Google Chrome
          164 MB          mds_stores
          131 MB          softwareupdated
          115 MB          Dock
          82 MB                  installd
Virtual Memory Statistics:
          10.52 GB          Free RAM
          2.94 GB          Active RAM
          752 MB          Inactive RAM
          1.81 GB          Wired RAM
          4.31 GB          Page-ins
          0 B                  Page-outs
Does anyone have any ideas on why this is happening or are experiencing anything similar? I can't for the life of me figure out if it's a Mavericks issue or if it's a hardware issue.  Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

You're not going to believe this but I just now found a working solution!!!
Thanks to the talents of a man named, Rhys Oxenhams, and his flawless tutorial, eveything's running normally now!
BEFORE READING ON...make sure you backup all of you data!  I take no responsibility for anything bad that happens to your machine.  I'm providing this information because it worked for me. There's no guarantee it will work on your system.  TAKE ALL NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS BEFORE READING ON and BACKUP YOUR DATA IMMEDIATELY.
Here's what you need to do:
1. In the Finder menu bar, click on Go and select Computer. 2. In the window that comes up, double-click your computer's HD. For me, it's Macintosh HD. 3. From there, click on System > Library > Extensions. 4. Now look for a file called IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext. 5. Right-click on IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext and choose Show Package Contents. 6. In that new window that comes up, click on Contents > Plugins and locate ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext. 7. Just like in step 5, right-click on ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext and choose Show Package Contents. 8. Just like in step 6, in that new window that comes up, click on Contents > Resources and locate your Model Identifer.
     • In case you don't know what your Model ID is, click on the  in the top left of the screen and choose About This Mac     • In the window that comes up, click on More Info...     • In the next window that comes up, click on System Report     • In the very first screen, towards the top, locate the entry Model Identifier          - Write this info down on a piece of paper. You will need it. In my case, I wrote down MacBookPro8,1 9. Back in the Resources folder, locate the .plist file that has your model identifier. In my case, it was MacBookPro8,1.plist 10. You're not going to delete that file but instead move it to a differnt folder inside your home folder--doesn't matter which folder, just put it somewhere inside your home folder. 11. Restart your machine and you are good to go!
Let me know how it turns out for you.  REMINDER: Backup your data before doing this!