Could Your Next Electric Bill Come From Google?

Could you imagine what would happen if Google got into the energy business? Well they have. Google hasn't tried to hide the fact that they're interested in getting into the renewable energy game. They formed RE<C, a project focused on developing electricity from renewable sources that is cheaper than coal-derived power. They also started the RechargeIT project, which deals with implementing infrastructure that would allow plug-in electric vehicles to be become mass marketed.

As Triple Pundit reports,

Earlier this year, Google invested US$39 million in a North Dakota wind energy farm, and has also aggressively pushed for more solar power. It also became a large customer of Bloom Technology. And now that North Dakota deal with NextEra will go a step further: Google has entered a 20-year agreement with NextEra, allowing the tech giant to sell that wind power to the grid while obtaining access to Renewable Energy Credits (REC) through a Purchase Power Agreement.

The way Google is approaching the REC market is different than other competitors in the space. Google buys the energy direct from the source. Since they can't use the energy directly - like for data centers - Google sells the energy back to the regional market. But how they differ is that in obtaining RECs directly from the power producer they are able to give green power producers, like NextEra, the ability to gain direct access to capital.

Does that mean that your next electric bill could come from Google? Probably not. As 3P says, "Google's executives for several years have expressed an interest in building up sources of renewable energy while mitigating the environmental effects of their company's operations. Data centers and office complexes suck up large amounts of energy, and the company would like to boast that its business is completely carbon-neutral-a goal that has not quite yet been realized. Deals like that with NextEra give Google a long-term and safe commitment to wind and other cleaner sources of energy."

But I think it would be cool if Google got in the energy business directly. How awesome would it be to tie your energy usage in with other Google products? Maybe you could control your home appliances via your Android smartphone or schedule certain tasks during off-peak times via Google Calendar.

Perhaps people would actually monitor and adjust their energy usage accordingly if the information were so accessible.

[Image: dannysullivan/flickr]