Page 182 -

9

Green IT Case Studies

for Energy Utilities

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not
enough; we must do.”

—Goethe

ptg
Energy corporations, and especially electric utilities, have an interesting
and important role in the establishment of green data centers. As first men-
tioned in Chapter 5, “The Magic of ‘Incentive’—The Role of Electric
Utilities,” electric utilities have a significant interest in avoiding, when pos-
sible, the need to build new electric power plants to meet peak demand. In
addition, they can use their experience with their own data centers and green
IT initiatives to help their customers evaluate best practices for energy con-
servation. Then, they can use that experience to establish electric utility rate
cases to provide significant incentive for their customers to move to green
data centers and green IT in general. The importance of incentives from
energy utility rate cases in encouraging green IT was discussed in Chapter 5.
This chapter looks at case studies for large energy utilities in their march
toward green IT and green data centers.
The energy utility case studies include green IT initiatives within PG&E
(Pacific Gas & Electric) in California. Also included are details of the green
IT process used for a large energy utility in the Chicago area. The author was
involved in the green IT initiatives for the energy utility in the Chicago area.

147