Soaring energy costs and growing numbers of data center devices are all contributing to high power costs for enterprises. As a result, new government and utility company incentives have emerged to reduce the strain on the nation's electrical grid. Pursue the potential savings being offered for "greener" data centers.

What Energy Providers Are Doing

Enterprises in northern California are paying from 12 to 16 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity, which is one of the highest rates in the country. According to the Pacific Gas & Energy Company (PG&E), the utility giant (which serves over 350,000 business customers in tech-heavy Silicon Valley and surrounding areas) has recently approved a plan to reimburse enterprises up to 50% of a consolidation project via virtualization. This reimbursement plan covers software, hardware, and consulting costs, with a cap of $4 million in rebates per customer.

The rebate plan works by PG&E calculating the electricity consumed...