Off Peak

Deck: 
Oracle's energy director tells Congress how new-economy firms are taking reliability concerns into their own hands.
Fortnightly Magazine - November 1 2000
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Off Peak

November 1, 2000

Customers Move On

Oracle's energy director tells Congress how new-economy firms are taking reliability concerns into their own hands.

 

My name is Jeff Byron. I am the energy director at Oracle Corp. in Redwood Shores, Calif. Oracle is a software developer who sells to many of the Fortune 500 companies. I am here today as an end-use customer of electric commodity and services. ...

"I believe Oracle is representative of many of the high-tech companies of the digital-economy. ... I operate a 15-megawatt distribution system at Oracle. ... I am a one-man operation, whose responsibility is to maintain the highest level of reliability of electric supply at the lowest feasible cost. The expertise I bring to Oracle is not a core competency for the world's second-largest software company. However, in 1996 Oracle had become frustrated with the number of power outages that were being experienced, and instead of making substantial expenditures for uninterruptible power supplies (batteries) that would maintain critical functions through short power interruptions, Oracle invested in its own substation and distribution system. ...

"This investment cost Oracle approximately $6.5 million and involved taking a risk that few commercial companies have considered. Nevertheless, the investment has afforded Oracle a moderately more reliable electric supply than most commercial customers. ...

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