Did you know that many electrical utility companies are offering rebates for companies that purchase energy efficient IT equipment such as servers, PCs and power management software?
Why are utilities doing this? Today’s high cost of energy and the availability of Federal stimulus dollars for energy efficiency programs are making this an ideal time for utilities to offer customers incentives for investing in energy efficient computers and servers. Federal agencies are directing funds to utilities to support these incentives. Also, state legislation often requires many utilities to devote a portion of revenues to fund energy efficiency programs, including encouraging the purchase of energy efficient IT equipment such as servers, PCs, and power management software.
In the United States, there are currently 20+ utilities that are offering rebate incentives for the purchase energy efficient IT equipment with another 70+ utilities considering or in the process of rolling out a rebate program. Here’s a list of utilities that we know of (as of July ’09).
• Arizona Public Service Company
• Austin Energy
• Avista
• BC Hydro (Vancouver, BC)
• Bonneville Power Administration
• Energy Trust of Oregon
• Idaho Power
• Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
• Manitoba Hydro
• Northeast Utilities
• Oncor Energy
• Pacific Gas and Electric
• Sacramento Muni Utility District
• San Diego Gas and Electric
• Seattle City Light
• Silicon Valley Power
• Snohomish PUD
• Southern California Edison
In addition to the savings that can be achieved just by consolidating multiple older servers with newer Xeon® 5500 (Nehalem) servers, getting additional cash back from the utility companies can make the decision to refresh your server infrastructure that much more lucrative.
Let me know if you are aware of other rebate or incentive programs offered by your utility company (U.S. or another country).