PG&E Collaborates With IBM

ARMONK, N.Y. -- IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced a collaborative effort to optimize energy efficiency opportunities in PG&E's California IT operations through a server consolidation program and by jointly developing a new way to measure and reduce heat in data centers. IBM also announced today its participation in PG&E's Energy Efficiency Incentive Program.

A world leader in energy efficiency, PG&E teamed with IBM to deploy a server consolidation and virtualization initiative with the explicit goal of reducing energy consumption in its own data center facilities spanning over 40,000 square feet of raised floor in San Francisco, Fairfield and Diablo Canyon, California.

PG&E will consolidate nearly 300 Unix servers onto 6 IBM System p servers, helping to reduce 80 percent of its energy and facilities consumption, and will use IBM virtualization technologies to boost utilization of the systems from 10 percent capacity to over 80 percent. In addition, PG&E will deploy IBM Rear Door Heat eXchanger water cooling technology on the System p servers to reduce heat in the data center by up to 60 percent.

"Energy efficiency is the number one priority for PG&E as we work with our customers to meet our environmental goals," said Brad Whitcomb, Vice President, Customer Products & Services, PG&E. "We're thrilled to partner with IBM to pilot energy efficiency innovations that can help our customers save money and protect the environment by further reducing their energy use."

IBM Corp.