Paul Tonko, President and CEO
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
NYSERDA/ASHRAE Workshop on Energy Efficient Data Centers

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Good afternoon and welcome to this workshop on energy efficient data centers. This is the first of five workshops across the state. As President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, and in collaboration with ASHRAE, I am pleased to offer this workshop. It is our goal to spark a vigorous discussion which will inform and educate data center operators, facility managers, and service providers of the opportunities to save energy and dollars within their data centers.

I would like to thank ASHRAE, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering for hosting this event; and Joe Borowiec, Sue Andrews and Mike Razanousky from the NYSERDA team for putting this event together. And thank all of you for participating.

Under the leadership of Governor David Paterson, New York is committed to an energy revolution. This revolution will transform how we use energy, bolster our economy and clean our air; and NYSERDA is working closely with the administration in every facet of this effort.

Certainly, the challenges are large and many. We need to reduce energy use through energy efficiency. We need to ensure energy reliability and security. We have to transition our energy reliance toward renewable and indigenous energy resources. We must reduce our dependence on imported energy, which exports dollars and leaves us more vulnerable to energy supply disruptions and price volatility.

Additionally, our exported dollars should be kept right here in New York and used to invest in furthering our energy resources, supporting local economic development and strengthening the critical infrastructure that our economy depends on. Data centers are a key part of that infrastructure. We need to coordinate the complementary nature of energy, environmental and economic development policies. This requires us to take a holistic approach to energy, economic development, the environment and education.

Given the prominent role that NYSERDA is playing in New York’s energy transformation and that which it can play in your efforts, I believe it is helpful to share the core philosophies which drive and guide the organization. NYSERDA is strongly committed to helping the state achieve its energy policy goals. Our mission and the dedication of our workforce exemplify this commitment. We strive to facilitate change through the widespread development and use of innovative technologies to improve the state’s energy, economic, and environmental well-being.

In short, it is NYSERDA’s mission to use innovation and technology to solve some of New York’s most difficult energy and environmental problems in ways that improve the state’s economy.

In fulfilling this mission, NYSERDA’s workforce reflects our public service orientation, placing a premium on objective analysis and collaboration, reaching out to solicit multiple perspectives and share information. We strive to be a model of efficiency and effectiveness, while remaining flexible and responsive to our customers’ needs. Our programs and services provide a vehicle for the state to work collaboratively with both private and public sectors.

We are committed to serving as a catalyst for change—enabling all New Yorkers to realize affordable energy, a growing and vibrant economy, greater energy independence and reliability, and a cleaner environment.

We can apply this commitment, mission, expertise and related programs to the benefit of your facilities and data centers, no matter how small or large, and in virtually every sector.

Data centers are found in nearly every sector of the economy: financial services, media, high-tech, universities, and governmental institutions; and many others use and operate data centers to aid business processes, for information management, and communication functions.

A rising demand for computer resources has led to significant growth in the number of data centers and servers. This growth is significantly increasing the energy used by these servers and the power and cooling infrastructure that supports them.

I’ll note that New York State has the 2 nd largest concentration of data centers in the nation. And, taken nationally, the energy used by servers and data centers in 2006 was estimated to be about 61 billion kilowatt-hours, which represents about 1.5 percent of the total U.S. generated electricity. Under current efficiency trends, energy consumption by servers and data centers is expected to double in the next five years.

Individually, these centers consume an enormous amount of electricity and, compounded with rising system resource demand and skyrocketing energy costs, are producing dramatically higher facility energy bills. Taken cumulatively, their electricity demand challenges the already strained electricity grid, which in turn poses a risk to data center reliability and security. Under the current course, data center energy consumption and costs as well as risks to security will only increase.

However, there is another way to view this. Data centers provide a ripe and substantial opportunity to “mine” energy efficiency. In so doing, we could significantly reduce energy use, save dollars, clean the air, protect critical infrastructure, and move New York State toward our respective energy goals.

We should take full advantage of this far reaching and multi-beneficial opportunity; and NYSERDA is poised to help.

I believe that a coordinated program of information dissemination, focused research and development and operating practice improvements for data centers could indeed produce large savings; reduce carbon emissions; reduce load on the electric grid and enhance reliability; reduce the need to build new electric generation capacity; and protect data and computing functions. NYSERDA has a number of programs in place to assist data centers in identifying energy saving opportunities and to procure energy efficient equipment. Through these expert programs, we can provide both valuable technical assistance and enabling financial help.

Additionally, we recently issued a $3 million solicitation focused on the development and demonstration of advanced data center and server efficiency technologies (PON 1206). I strongly encourage you to reach out to the NYSERDA staff here on how NYSERDA can assist you in improving the energy efficiency of your data center.

It is my hope that you come away from this workshop having identified some energy efficiency action plans with regard to your data center operations. Further, I encourage your feedback and suggestions on how we can best assist. We want to help you lower costs, expand capacity, enhance reliability and grow in New York State even as we work toward environmentally friendly outcomes.