Agrees to promote hydropower as renewable energy

EPHRATA — Representatives from Yahoo! Inc. met with the Grant County Public Utility District commissioners Monday, discussing energy-efficiency measures the company is taking at its Quincy data center.

"Energy efficiency is something near and dear to our hearts," said Thomas Furlong, director of infrastructure strategy and development for the Internet giant.

There are a lot of "green-minded" employees at Yahoo!, Furlong said. Plus, being energy-efficient makes good business sense.

"The more that we can keep the lid on the cost of our infrastructure — how much it costs to acquire, maintain and operate — it is a competitive advantage," he said.

Furlong touted the efficiency of both the cooling systems and servers in their 33 data centers.

Their cooling systems are 10 to 15 percent more efficient than those in data centers run by other companies.

K.C. Mares, director of data center strategies for Yahoo!, said they get 200 watts per server in their data centers compared to the industry average of about 350.

"So realize, our servers are dramatically more efficient," Mares said. "That's because we're having them custom built."

The Quincy data center has "tens of thousands" of servers, they said. They declined to say exactly how many.

The company plans to improve efficiency at each phase of development in Quincy.

Mares said they are open to placing solar panels on the roof of the data center. They are also open to using available land on the property for wind turbines or ground-mounted solar panels, he said.

Furlong and Mares committed Yahoo to a political partnership with the PUD to promote hydropower as an entirely renewable resource.

Initiative 937 was passed in November, requiring utilities like Grant PUD to meet 15 percent of its load with qualifying renewable energy by 2020. Most of the PUD's hydropower from Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams wouldn't be counted as renewable under the initiative.

PUD Commissioners Terry Brewer and Tom Flint commended Yahoo! for its partnership and being conscientious about energy use in Grant County. Yahoo! is setting an example for the industry, the commissioners said.

"We feel very good here (Grant County)," Furlong said. "We feel wanted."

Worldwide, Yahoo! is trying to reduce its carbon "footprint," Mares said. Yahoo! announced in April it wants to be a carbon-neutral company by the end of the year.

"It's a very ambitious goal," he said.

Yahoo!, which has already donated more than one million compact-fluorescent light bulbs, doesn't plan on becoming a carbon-neutral company by purchasing renewable-energy credits.

Instead, they're giving people energy-efficient cooktops in rural Asia, installing micro-hydropower systems in Brazil and they're building small wind installations in rural India.

"We're improving the quality of life for people in those areas while reducing the environmental footprint," Mares said.