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Apple takes over hydroelectric plant project near its Oregon data center

Screen Shot 2014-04-12 at 18.10.46

OregonLive notes that government filings from last week show Apple has taken over a hydroelectric project near its Oregon data center. Apple has previously reported that it powers its data centers entirely on renewable energy. The hydroelectric plant in Oregon will help maintain its 100% renewable energy rating. In fact, on Apple’s environmental website, the company notes that the Prineville site will source power from hydroelectric energy in addition to wind and solar.

Apple seems to have taken over the project early in the development cycle. It is not clear if the site is currently completed. OregonLive says that Apple (nor the project’s previous owners) did not respond to requests for comment on the state of the site.

The news comes in the wake of Greenpeace’s latest energy report on Apple, which applauded its green energy commitments. Greenpeace will no doubt be delighted by this latest development which continues to highlight Apple’s commitment to green energy.

In Cook’s most recent public appearance, the CEO expressed strong views about environmental sustainability in Apple’s shareholder meeting.

“If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock.”

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Comments

  1. Harry Underwood - 10 years ago

    Dunno what to say about this. I can applaud this for making it easier for at least one company to maintain servers without relying on fossil fuels, but I’m not sure that the renewable energy market in Oregon needs one company owning an entire hydroelectric plant just for a data center. Maybe I’m worrying too much?

  2. rottenbittenfruit - 10 years ago

    Apple could afford to purchase Hoover Dam to power all of its data centers.

    After Cook told investors to dump Apple for their stance relating to ROI, the stock has been in a decline ever since. Nice going, Cook. Just keep chasing shareholders and investors to Google and Amazon.

    • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 10 years ago

      Well if you knew your history, you would know that what you propose (“It’s only about the money”), is actually a very radical view. Many of the early Capitalists took this exact provision too far and caused huge damage to nascent economies before they were subsequently reigned in by regulation and common sense. Today’s (radical) “free-market capitalists” are a resurgence of this nonsensical and rather damaging approach to economics.

      All of the time in the middle, (most of the 20th century) business leaders took the position that Cook does. That a business is about more than just making money, and that a particular business’ main raison d’être is more important than the quantity of cash they can produce. In other words a book business is about selling good books (not Amazon’s model of cash flow maximisation), and a software companies business is actually about making the best software (not Microsoft’s idea of a monopolistic rapist).

      This is also true of the act of “business” in a general sense, outside of our modern definitions of it, and throughout the entire span of human history. What you are espousing is a modern variant that has been proven to be damaging to society overall and that historically almost no one has agreed with, despite the fact that you can no doubt find many supporters of the idea in the particular time and place we are today.

      • Cognomen - 10 years ago

        Thank you for that cogent response which pretty well sums up the current state of play. If only the other 99% of commentators in the Mac blogs and rumour columns were as thoughtful and considerate.

      • exceptionally well said. I hope to see more of your posts in the future

  3. themis333 - 10 years ago

    Glad to see them continue doing their part.

  4. herb02135go - 10 years ago

    Many businesses locate in Oregon because electricity is generally cheap. However, it’s not cheap for residents who ultimately pay more.

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.