Computer Power Usage Energy Efficiency Consulting: In August 2006, Sun and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced an energy incentive program whereby California customers can receive a cash savings of $700 to $1,000 per server when they replace existing equipment with Sun's eco-responsible servers. This agreement signifies an expanded awareness of how critical energy efficiency is in the data center and is likely to be the first of many such initiatives. Sun's Vice President of Eco-Responsibility, Dave Douglas, shares insights with Sun Executive Boardroom readers on the impetus behind the initiative — and its significance for customers.

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In August 2006, Sun and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced an energy incentive program whereby California customers can receive a cash savings of $700 to $1,000 per server when they replace existing equipment with Sun's eco-responsible servers. This agreement signifies an expanded awareness of how critical energy efficiency is in the data center and is likely to be the first of many such initiatives. Sun's Vice President of Eco-Responsibility, Dave Douglas, shares insights with Sun Executive Boardroom readers on the impetus behind the initiative — and its significance for customers.

Q: How do businesses benefit from the announcement between Sun and PG&E?

A: PG&E recognized Sun's leadership in the area of energy-efficient servers and made the T1000 and T2000 the first server products to receive a rebate. If you are a data center manager looking to upgrade your servers, you get this rebate on top of the money that you save in energy, as well as related cooling and power distribution costs. When you add all of that up, it becomes an attractive way to ease the overall energy burden, help the environment, and save money.

Q: Why is the timing for this initiative important?

A: There is a confluence of forces driving the timing for this type of incentive program. First, energy costs are going up. Analysts are saying that energy is now 15-20 percent of the budget of many large data centers, meaning that this has now become economically significant for IT and finance folks.

Second, in many geographic areas energy capacity is maxed out. This was especially acute during the summer hot spells on the West and East Coasts of the U.S. where Sun participated in voluntary energy reduction measures at our major sites in California and Massachusetts.

Third, many IT managers are hitting the limits of space, cooling, and power in their data centers. Their question is how to add compute capacity without taking on the expensive and lengthy process of building new data centers.

Finally, awareness of the environmental effects of energy usage is rising. More people understand that the size of your electricity bill is related to your contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental issues.