Microsoft deliberately wasted energy at data center to avoid fine, says NY Times

Disclaimer: all rights reserved to Engadget and could be found under the links below Microsoft's desire to avoid a fine combined with a power company's strict electricity use rules resulted in the software giant deliberately wasting millions of watts of power, according to the New York Times. Redmond's Quincy data center, which houses Bing, Hotmail and other cloud-based servers, had an agreement in place with a Washington state utility containing clauses which imposed penalties for under-consumption of electricity. A $210,000 fine was levied last year, since the facility was well below its power-use target, which prompted Microsoft to deliberately burn $70,000 worth of electricity in three days "in a commercially unproductive manner" to avoid it, according to its own documents. The utility board capitulated and reduced the amend to $60k, but the messy situation seems a far cry from Redmond's pledge to become carbon neutral by this summer. [Image credit: New York Times] Filed under: Misc, Alt Microsoft deliberately wasted energy at data center to avoid fine, says NY Times originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink The Verge  |  New York Times  | Email this | Comments Author: Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/24/microsoft-deliberately-wasted-energy-to-avoid-fine/

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