STACK Silicon Valley SVY01: Infomart Has Lower Cost Of Power In Silicon Valley

Data Center Frontier reports Informart's cost of power is lower in Santa Clara:

In San Jose, Infomart uses the PG&E Direct Access program to offer power to customers at rates of 8.5 cents to 9 cents per kilowatt hour, much lower than the 11 to 12 cents per kWh rate seen by most PG&E customers in the area.

Sheputis was ahead of the curve, as he has been sourcing green power since 2010. As CEO of Fortune Data Centers, a wholesale data center provider which later became part of Infomart through a 2014 merger. Sheputis took advantage of a limited reopening of California’s Direct Access program to non-residential customers. Under Direct Access, eligible utility customers can choose from multiple energy suppliers.

PG&E, which serves San Jose, makes money by charging for transmission and distribution, rather than a profit on the sale of electricity itself.

Customers using Direct Access typically pay one fee from the third-party energy provider they select, and a separate fee from PG&E for distributing the power to their facility.

In San Jose, the primary advantage of Direct Access is pricing. It allows Infomart to offer cheaper rates than its immediate neighbors, but also to compete with providers in Santa Clara, where municipal utility Silicon Valley Power offers rates as low as 9.5 to 10 cents per kilowatt hour.

Sheputis said Infomart’s tenants could save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on energy costs, or opt for renewable energy to further reduce carbon emissions, which is the focus in Oregon.