| In the wake of last month’s electrical outages in Northern California and growing concerns that the nation’s power grid might not be able to keep pace with the demand for electricity, businesses are preparing to make sure their Web operations are ready to weather continued anticipated brownouts.
A study released this week by the Worldwide Institute, an environmental research group, confirmed those concerns. Electric power interruptions annually will cost U.S. companies some $80 billion this year.
Observers attributed deregulation as a key cause of recent disruptions because power authorities can’t count on rate hikes to cover the cost of adding capacity. Futhermore, forecasted record heat this summer is expected to exacerbate the problem.
As a result, some larger companies are readying plans for onsite power generation of their own. According to sources, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems are among those looking into bringing onsite power generation facilities. Neither company would comment. However, companies considering such measures must get regulatory approval and environmental permits. | 