Microsoft Wasted Millions of Watts of Electricity to Escape Fine

The Redmond-based technology giant wasted millions of watts of electricity in an attempt to erase a fine it previously received for underestimating its power consumption.

Microsoft owns a gigantic hydroelectric data center in Quincy, Washington, that’s marked as “green and efficient”, but it uses no less than 40 diesel generators to provide backup power.

After Microsoft was initially sent to court because of the pollution its diesel generators produce in the area, the Windows maker received a $210,000 / €160,000 penalty for underestimating its power use.

In order to escape the fine, the company wasted millions of watts of electricity to reach the necessary power consumption level and it even threatened that it would continue to do so until the fine is erased, The New York Times writes in its online edition.

Power consumption rose 5.5 million watts from the 16th to the 19th of December, 2011, with figures accounting for more than a half of the total Quincy power use.

Curiously, Microsoft hasn’t commented too much on the matter, but instead it released just a short statement, claiming that this problem has already been resolved with those involved.

“It was only a one-time event that was quickly resolved,” a Microsoft spokesperson told the aforementioned source.

Both Yahoo! and Dell also operate data centers in Quincy, so corporate facilities record the biggest power consumption in the region. For example, residential and small commercial buildings in Quincy need an average of 9.5 million watts per year, while Microsoft and Yahoo! use nearly 42 million watts.

Yahoo! Was also fined because it overestimated power use, but unlike Microsoft, the Sunnyvale-based technology company paid a fine of $94,608 / €73,000 without trying to erase it.

Microsoft, on the other hand, managed to reduce its fine to $60,000 / €46,300, after the Quincy facility’s board approved its request.

Via: Microsoft Wasted Millions of Watts of Electricity to Escape Fine