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(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address): February 19, 2010

It’s Official: Google Can Sell Power Like a Utility

If the power goes out, you’ll know who to blame.

The Federal Regulatory Energy Commission has granted Google Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the search giant, the right to behave like a utility.

The order grants Google Energy the power to sell energy, capacity and services at market rates.

Why does Google want to do this? Right now, the company rakes in billions of dollars from ads and it doesn't have to have extensive support desks and remote repair teams -- i.e., the kind of people power providers must have on staff -- in order to do it. Selling power is a much more hands-on business.

Google has said it wants to go carbon neutral. With the FERC order, it can now effectively erect as many solar panels and install as many fuel cells as it likes without worrying about having purchased too much capacity; the company can now sell off the extra power it generates.

But more importantly, Google can now exploit its massive data centers to provide services for controlling power consumption in commercial buildings, industrial sites, and homes. It is largely a task that should be handed off to large computer rooms.

Providing these services will allow Google to better leverage its hardware resources. Search will get cheaper because the hardware budget can be amortized over more services. Both Web 2.0 companies and energy services companies will complain about being undercut by the big G. Consumers will also have to get used to Google having even more information about their daily habits.

But can Google charge for energy management services? That could be a challenge. The average person might rightly balk at suddenly being asked to write a monthly check to one of the biggest companies in the world, particularly if other companies offer the same services.

This is where the power part comes in. Consumers will pay for power. If Google combines its services -- for free -- with competitively priced electricity, consumers will likely lose that reticence. It will be a better combination than what their utility can provide.

Conversely, Google could charge for these services the same way energy services companies like Siemens do: if Google saves you $200 on your utility bill, you pay the company half.  You pay, but you still save. It's a theory, but clearly the company and its founders are obsessed with alternative energy.

11 Comments

  • Casey Verdant 02/20/10 11:03 PM

    Excellent decision by the FERC! Let’s hope Google does for energy what it’s done for search, e-mail, chat, and phones. Google will start by buying its own renewable energy, but hopefully move into consumer power as well.

    Researching how to make your company, product, or next project more Green? Go to http://www.greencollareconomy.com for sustainability white papers and the largest b2b green directory on the web.

     Reply
  • Joel 02/21/10 11:17 PM

    If the power goes out, you’ll know who to blame.

    Hyperbole much?

    Thanks to media concepts like this, its no wonder the general consumer is ignorant of the set up of the electricity generation, transmission, distribution and retail space…

     Reply
  • Freek Smits 02/22/10 12:12 PM

    More alternatives to the standard utilities should be welcomed.
    Maybe this brings back the power to the people.
    Check also: http://www.powerrouter.com

     Reply
  • Mary 02/22/10 1:18 PM

    Maybe there is a connection between this and the bloombox issue.  Bloomboxes and solar generating surplus power at Google locations to be placed on the market?

     Reply
  • Federico 02/22/10 2:04 PM

    spot on!

     Reply
  • Lauren 02/22/10 2:48 PM

    Mary: I agree, but suspect that’s only part of the story.  If Google can do this, why can’t any homeowner or business sell excess power back to the utility?  CA just changed some of the rules for this effective, Jan 1, 2010; but still, independent power producers can only install generation to meet their needs and sell incidental excess. Google’s move appears to remove that constraint.

     Reply
  • Hamilton Dutcher http://cleanpowerfulwind.com 02/22/10 3:17 PM

    I have designed and built wind generators that can go on building,  bis and home.  It very efficient.  We can use exsisting infrastucture.  How do I get around the ‘big guys’?  Where do I get grants and contacts around the world.  Sincerely,  Hamilton Dutcher

     Reply
  • Leo 02/24/10 11:17 PM

    Bloom Boxes in the back yard sounded good to me.  No power distribution poles or wires, ten to twenty thousand watts of power at my finger tips and no monthly bills after the Bloom Boxes are mine, free & clear. If I keep my power service from the local Power & Light company, I can sell my extra power to the power company by just letting the meter run backwarda.

     Reply
  • Leo 02/24/10 11:20 PM

    Google might get gardens of Bloom Boxes and sell the power to me & you.

     Reply
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