It's November 2013 As Microsoft Makes Its First Direct Renewable Power Purchase

[hatrack]

I mean, nice try, guys, but Jesus Christ, could you be more pathetically behind-hand?

Microsoft is moving to close the gap with other tech giants by agreeing to buy up all of the electricity produced by a Texas wind project to power one of its data centres.

Company officials told the Guardian that Microsoft would make a formal announcement on Monday of its first direct purchase of renewable energy: a 20-year deal to purchase all of the power produced by a 110MW wind project, 70 miles north-west of Fort Worth, Texas. The Keechi project, by RES Americas, will begin construction early in 2014.

Rob Bernard, Microsoft's chief environmental strategist, said power generated by the farm's 55 turbines would feed into the same electrical grid that supplies the company's data centre in San Antonio. The windfarm will not supply all of the data centre's power – and Microsoft in line with other companies would not comment on overall electricity use at the facility.

But the company and analysts said Microsoft's decision to use its corporate muscle to push more renewable energy onto the grid represented an important step forward. Data centres are a large and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.

EDIT

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/04/microsoft-wind-powered-data-centre