T E C H N O L O G Y
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Edited by
Jeff MuskusWho Pays toMake
Big Tech Green?
BloombergBusinessweek March 2, 2020IntheotherwiseflatMinnesotanexpanse, the
whitish-graymoundofcoalashlooksmountain-
ous,a permanentcemeteryofcontaminantsnext
tothetwinsmokestacksoftheSherburneCounty
GeneratingStation.Thispowerplantdoesn’tjust
runthetownofBecker;it prettymuchis thetown.
Butwithina decadeit willclosecompletely.One
frigidmorning,GregPruszinske,Becker’sadmin-
istrator,is staringatthefieldacrossfromthecoal
ashpile,wherehe’splacedhishopesforthefuture.
Overhead,bandsofhigh-tensioncablesconnect
totowersneartheplant.Thatinfrastructureis one
reasonGooglehaspledgedtoputa $600milliondata
centerhere.It needsaccesstomassiveamountsof
uninterruptedpower.“Thetransmissionwon’tgo
away”whenthecoalplantcloses,Pruszinskesays.
“Electronscancomethisway,sameastheycango
theotherway.”
Foralmostfourdecades,Sherco,aslocalscallthe
plant,hasdonetwothingsinabundance:burncoal
andpaytaxes.It emitsmoregreenhousegasesthan
anythingelseinMinnesota,butit alsocovers75%of
Becker’staxbase.Taxesfromtheplantsubsidizea
public18-holegolfcourse,anuncommonamenity
fora townoffewerthan5,000people,andSherco
employsmorethan 300 localstocreatecheappower
formillions.Itstransmissiontowerscandeliver
morethan2,200megawattsofpower—fourtimes
theoutputofa typicalcoalplantandenoughtorun
2.6millionhomes,roughlyhalfthestate.
By2016,localofficialswereworriedabout
Becker’slong-termprospects.Sherco’soperator,
XcelEnergyInc.,wasplanningtodecommission
theplantinphasesoverthenextdecadeorso,
andthetown,about 50 milesnorthwestofdown-
townMinneapolis,seemedtohavefewoptionstoreplaceit.SowhentheutilitycametoBecker’s
leaderswithwordthatGooglewantedtoputa
datacenterneartheagingsmokestacks—onethat
wouldneedasmuchjuiceasa cityof600,000—
theyandXcelwereeagertomeetthetechcompa-
ny’srequirements.“Wewanttobecomethecoal
transitionmodelforothercommunitiesacrossthe
nation,”Pruszinskesays.
Inexchangefora promiseof 50 full-timejobs,
Googlewillbeexemptfromtwodecades’worthof
localandcountytaxes,worthatleast$14million.
While the data center will run on electricity gener-
ated by fossil fuels, Google will buy carbon offsets
from wind power suppliers in South Dakota. And
Xcel is giving it an initial 10-year discount on its elec-
tric bill, which in effect means the utility’s other cus-
tomers will help subsidize that bill.
“Given our scale, we can often find a mutually
beneficial structure that increases the amount of
renewables in a region, while also meeting our
energy goals as a company, and, given the decreas-
ing cost of renewables, do this in a cost-effective
manner for the utility serving the existing commu-
nity,” says Google spokeswoman Jacinda Mein. “Not
only does Google benefit, but so does the rest of the
community in the utility company’s service area.”
While most companies will gladly use any lever-
age at their disposal to wring better deals from local
officials, Google’s arrival in Becker is an object lesson
in the unique clout big tech companies’ huge power
needs give them over local utilities at a moment
when few industries’ power needs are growing, says
Anthony Logan, a researcher at Wood Mackenzie, an
energy consulting firm. Every company pursuing a
green energy plan “is getting a really good deal,” he
says. And by locating near an existing power plant,
even if it’s closing, Google benefits from the infra-
structure without having to pay for it, he says.
The lack of transparency surrounding the nego-
tiations can make it hard to figure out whether
such deals make sense for the public. “We don’t
know the amount of savings they are getting,”● Companies like Google have
leverage over local utilities as
their power use climbsILLUSTRATION BY WENKAI MAO