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Shea Gunther

Google starts its own electric utility

Last month Google filed paperwork to incorporate Google Energy and will begin buying and selling renewable energy on the wholesale market.

Fri, Jan 08 2010 at 11:40 AM EST
 6

Photo: Visual Density/Flickr
Last month Google formally incorporated Google Energy, a new subsidiary that is seeking permission from the government to buy and sell electricity on the wholesale market.

Google uses a lot of electricity between their army of 22,000 employees and the hundreds of thousands of servers it's deployed around the world and has been pretty vocal about recognizing their need to be good corporate citizens on the climate change front. Google.org, their philanthropic arm, has been making a lot of investments in clean technology and developed the RE<C project, aimed at driving the cost of renewable energy below that of coal.
 
The formation of Google Energy probably doesn't mean that you'll be able to buy your electricity for your home from Google anytime soon (though with them you never really know). Company spokesman Niki Fenwick told CNET News that the move will allow them to have more flexibility to buy renewable energy.
 
"Right now, we can't buy affordable, utility-scale, renewable energy in our markets," Fenwick told CNET. "We want to buy the highest quality, most affordable renewable energy wherever we can and use the green credits."
 
In 2007, Google committed to becoming carbon neutral and has been pursuing their goal by buying high quality renewable energy energy credits. Google Energy is a smart move that will allow them to flex even more muscle in getting more renewable energy onto the grid and into their portfolio..
 
The New York Times has a great interview with Google's green energy go-to guy Bill Weihl that's worthy of a click over.
 
[Via CNET]
 
 
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anonymous
LoveEarthAlways 01/11/2010 21:03 PM

This could mean only one thing about Google: They LoveEarthAlways!

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anonymous
ENron 01/10/2010 22:50 PM

ENRON!!!

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anonymous
Casey Verdant 01/09/2010 20:26 PM

This is a really interesting move on Google's part to power its own data centers and make a grab at one of the most profitable sectors of American industry. Let's hope Google Energy is as green and creative as Google's other subsidiaries.

If you’re interested in alternative energy and green tech, check out http://www.greencollareconomy.com. It has hundreds of case studies on emerging green technology. It's also the largest b2b green directory on the.... More

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anonymous
SOLAR MAID 01/08/2010 16:16 PM

Way to go Google, its going to take bold moves from organizations like yours to really get this ball rolling.

Keep your solar panels clean!!
http://www.solarmaid.org

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anonymous
Daniel Revillini 01/08/2010 14:07 PM

What an incredibly cool mega company! If only the government would follow Googles far-thinking business model we might actually see the CHANGE Obama was talking about last year. Maybe Google should run for president in the next election? I'm pretty sure that corporations are legally considered people, right?

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anonymous
James West Today 07:01 AM

One thing for sure, where the government is concerned, PEOPLE most certainly are considered CORPORATIONS. Otherwise Federal statutes, rules, and regulations mean nothing and DO NOT apply to anyone living outside of Washington D.C. Everyone needs to research this fact, it could save you lots of money, possibly even your life...!!

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