Not sure about others, but we are already supplementing our Edison feed with our backup power supplies. If we didn't we'd be meeting brown out conditions. We have the diesel generator scheduled to go online when our battery reserves dwindle to a range that we have determined. Why? Hassle. Seems the appropriate way to work. Diesel is noisy and creates bad neighbor relations. Pick a reason. K Irvine, CA

-----Original Message----- From: Matt Clauson [mailto:mec@dotorg.org] Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 9:30 AM To: nanog@merit.edu Subject: [Possible OT] California, and running off of generators for extended periods

Allo, all... Watching what's going on in California, it occured to me, and some of my colleagues, that the major colo and data centers (for example, but not focusing on, Exodus, Colo.com, etc.) could assist in the power crunch that California is having by shifting part, or all, of their loads over to generator power -- one would think that a) diesel fuel is still cheaper than electricity in California, price hikes lately notwithstanding, and b) the goodwill generated by such an endeavor would be good for the company. Admittedly, some sites with only limited battery UPS power cannot do this, at least not so early in the day. But it seems to me that at least a few datacenters and major facilities could switch over to independent power and just keep fueling the generators.

Question: Why would (or wouldn't) your company switch your datacenter loads to generator (or other off-mains) power sources, if you had the capability and/or capacity?

Comments invited, especially from companies in CA, or with offices/datacenters in CA. Comments will be aggregated and (re)posted at a later date.

(note: this is posted from my personal account. This inquiry is NOT related to my employer or employment, but is posed for information, speculation, and discussion among the NANOG and Internet communities.)

--mec