In Carbon-Free Commitment, Google Says Experience, Independent Research Shows Competitive Energy Markets Have Most Potential To Drive Clean Energy While Lowering Bills

September 15, 2020

Email This Story
Copyright 2010-20 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

The following story is brought free of charge to readers by EC Infosystems, the exclusive EDI provider of EnergyChoiceMatters.com

Google has announced a commitment to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy in all its data centers and campuses worldwide by 2030

In a white paper on the initiative, Google noted its support for allowing customers to access renewable energy directly, and stated, "we’ll advocate for organized regional energy markets and more interconnected regional grids."

"Across our global portfolio, Google operates in a range of market types, from fully deregulated energy markets to regions serviced by a single, vertically integrated utility. Our experience (and an independent body of research) suggests that competitive energy markets, operating within regionally integrated transmission systems, have the most potential to drive clean energy forward while lowering consumer electric bills. We’ll continue to back policies that create and expand these kinds of markets," the company said "[W]e’ll do all we can to empower energy consumers with more choice and control," Google said

That being said, Google said it would continue to work with regulated utilities as needed to achieve its goals, both in creating access to renewables, but also in customer-specific partnerships for clean energy development

"We are also continuing to seek out and work with our utility partners to create clean energy programs. Google began executing PPAs as a workaround: at the time, most utilities simply didn’t offer renewable energy options. However, since then, we’ve helped design programs in several U.S. states that enable businesses to buy wind and solar energy through their power provider. Crucially, these programs increase clean energy access for other consumers beyond Google. Going forward, we’ll seek out additional approaches that enable access to carbon-free power for all who desire it, not just those with the resources to navigate the complexity of PPAs," Google said

"[W]e’ll have opportunities to pursue entirely new kinds of partnerships with utilities. In Nevada, for instance, we’re collaborating with our prospective power provider, NV Energy, to create one of the largest-ever solar-plus-storage projects. Google will purchase battery capacity to better match our future data center with carbon-free energy," Google said

ADVERTISEMENT
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! -- Energy Pricing Analyst -- Houston
• NEW! -- Retail Energy Account Executive -- Houston
• NEW! -- Sr. Sales Executive -- Retail Supplier
• Energy Systems Analyst -- Retail Supplier
• Billing Specialist -- Retail Supplier  -- Texas