ANOTHER "Energy Beast" Emerges!

Abstract

In the world of energy consumers there exist a new and much
misunderstood entity. In fact an entire new market segment is spreading
across the planet and challenging the power industry as it spreads. The
much clichéd word ‘paradigm’ has been used to death, but in this in-
stance indeed truly applies when attached to a quantum change in the
way an entire industry does business.
Internet Host Farms
Internet Data Centers
Telecom Hubs
Switching Centers
Network Access Point
Whatever the application, they are here and they are spreading—
fast. They are also folding at a rate not seen since we watched ESCOs
drop on a daily basis three years ago. What we are watching is the early
evolution of a new industry, and the emergence of a dominant few.
Until now, the typical utility service request has always been in the
range of four to seven watts per square foot, with occasional heavy users
such as ice storage facilities and heavy manufacturing. These new infor-
mation routing facilities require 100, and now even 300, watts per
square foot!
It is not uncommon to request, of a utility, new service with capac-
ity for 50 megawatts to serve a warehouse that in its previous incarna-
tion required 100 kilowatts.