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SOFTWARE INDUSTRY NEWS |
Google – The Power Company ? |
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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has allowed Internet search giant Google to buy and sell bulk power like a utility company, even though the regulator has said that it would not "own or control any generation or transmission" facilities.  The FERC's order allows Google Energy, a subsidiary of Google, market-based rate authorization, which prepares the groundwork for the company to be more in control of its energy costs. It did acknowledge that neither the company nor its affiliates own or control any power generation or transmission facilities, even though it would now have the the rights "for the sale of energy, capacity, and ancillary services at market-based rates." Google has been looking for better access to large amounts of renewable energy as a way to reduce its carbon footprint and help produce some of the electricity it consumes while driving its search-engine business. The company has had a stated goal of becoming carbon-neutral for some time. Reports in the media suggested that it is common for large companies in the US to be granted similar authorities to trade in the wholesale electricity market as a means to better manage energy costs. Some reports went a step further, suggesting that Google may eventually end up in the energy business, given its interest in green energy technology research and investment over recent years. Back in 2007, Google said it would invest millions of dollars to help engineers and scientists find a way to generate a gigawatt of clean electricity while making it cheaper than coal. A year later in 2008, CEO Eric Schmidt presented an elaborate energy plan, including calculations, that talked about how the US could move towards generating 100 percent of its electric power purely from renewable sources while reducing emissions, creating jobs and simultaneously reducing energy costs. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are reported to be amongst early investors in electric car maker Tesla. However, most noteworthy amongst Google's energy endeavors is eSolar, a start-up spawned by Google's own Idealab. eSolar is a producer of large-scale solar thermal power plants, and according to Wikipedia, has inked a power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison to build 245 megawatts of concentrating solar power plants in Southern California that are slated to commence electricity production in 2011. eSolar had received $10 million from Google.org, and in February 2009, announced a deal with NRG Energy for up 500 MW of concentrated solar power to be built using 11 of eSolar's modular solar generating units. The deal included a $10-million investment by NRG and is scheduled to start producing power in 2011. |
LISTS AND RESEARCH
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Global Software Top 100 - Edition 2011
- The Global Software Top 100 is a list of the world's largest software companies, ranked by annual software revenues. The list is based upon revenue information of 10,000+ IT companies worldwide.
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Software industry trends (2011)
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- Top hardware companies
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- What happens in the hardware industry?
- Trends and analysis of the hardware industry and its key players.
- Top IT services companies
- A list of the world's largest IT services companies, ranked by annual services revenues. This link will take you to www.servicestop100.org.
- IT services companies: healthy growth
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CRM companies: a short list
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- Top software companies in the US (2010)
- A list of the largest software companies in the United States, ranked by annual software revenues. 2010 Edition, posted 15 December 2010.
- U.S. software industry trends (2010)
- A research publication discussing the trends and the key players in the software industry in the United States. Posted 15 December 2010.
- Top companies in the world (not just software)
- A general list of the largest companies in the world, ranked by revenues. Not just software companies; in fact, there are no software companies in it...
- Top IT companies
- A list of the largest IT companies in the world, ranked by annual revenues. Includes hardware, software and services.
