Google search: wind power investment
In May Google announced that it made an industrial size investment in industrial scale wind power. The search engine behemoth put up over $38 million toward a 169.5 megawatt wind farm in North Dakota, being developed by Florida based NextEra Energy, Inc. (FPL). It truly is an exciting project, using advanced blade technology and dynamic control systems.
Why does Google care so much about wind power? Probably because it just does, as shown by its efforts aimed at conserving energy as a company, and pushing for better clean energy policies for the country. Just as important, though, Google is essentially in the electricity consumption business. The company is very secretive with their actual energy usage, but even so, their myriad of servers and data centers require lots of reliable electricity. The Times Onlineestimated that a single Google search generates between 1 and 10 grams of carbon pollution (though Google disputes this). Given this potentially massive carbon footprint, energy policies have a direct affect on Google’s assets and bottom line, be it monetary or environmental.
The good news for Roen Financial Reportsubscribers is that NextEra Energy (formally FPL Group) was recommended for inclusion in the Paradigm Portfolio back in May of 2009. FPL was profiled in the November 2009 issue of the Roen Financial Report. I agree with Google that this is a good company to invest in.