A New 800-Pound Gorilla in Virginia Politics
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26 responses to “A New 800-Pound Gorilla in Virginia Politics”
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One of the things not well recognized is just how many small businesses are on the Amazon platform including AWS and payment services.
Millions of small businesses who once were more or less confined to a local presence now can reach potential customers around the world – and do. And Amazon rides herd on the not-so-wonderful types also.
The data center thing is ironic but expected. People want electricity, water, sewer, internet, highways, etc but not close to their homes…. They need to be off somewhere in the country but they still want their Amazon stuff.
They not only don’t want data centers, but solar and won’t want SMRs either is my bet.
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Yes, Larry, the demand created by this exploding data center industry is why anybody with an IQ in double digits understands the “wind and solar can do it all” myth is ridiculous and will never materialize.
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Have you seen “The Matrix”? They have ways of getting reliable power.
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Anyone who says wind/solar will do it all, need their head examined. The key issue is wind/solar cheaper than gas and when/if it is why would we not use it?
Some folks on the right have trouble understanding this concept.
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What Amazon , Microsoft, others are doing are buying the amount of solar power that is equivalent to their total 24/7 use. They’re willing to buy that power thus there is a market for solar farms that can provide it.
Is it cynical PR or is it something that their customers like them doing?
And yes, the customers ARE paying for it, embedded in their costs which Amazon can and STILL be competitive with other non-Amazon sellers.
So what is the problem? Amazon is willing to pay for it and their customers are okay with it.
Why I bet the same naysayer conservatives like Bacon and Haner also “support” Amazon… bet you!
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Agreed, it will be interesting indeed to see how Amazon threads the needle between its commitment to green energy and its voracious demand for a reliable, uninterrupted supply of electricity at a competitive price for its data centers.
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As far as price – as long as the other hyperscalers (notable Google and Microsoft) toe the clean energy line, it won’t be a competitive disadvantage for AWS. Their product is so much cheaper than an onsite datacenter the cost of electricity is not enough to get people out of the cloud. Now uninterrupted … well, that would apply to public clouds and private datacenters. All businesses suffer when the grid is unreliable (except maybe those business selling candles and generators).
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Need to also understand the difference between “new” demand and existing demand transferred from bricks/mortar to cloud. Amazon is serving existing demand more efficiently IMO.
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The only green that Amazon is committed to is the color of money. Green energy is a marketing tactic to build a brand name. It’s not a serious strategy for Amazon based on its actions.
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Great article….thanks for posting.
When you look at the power and influence of Dominion Power, why do I get the feeling, that with Amazon, Virginia is like the dog about to catch the pickup truck ?
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Amazon’s logo is apropos.
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Wait until interruptions in the power grid providing green energy start dumping power to those data centers.
I’m going to guess that data centers that take up that percentage of Dominion’s load have trouble providing backup power, but maybe someone knows.
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Amazon will just build it’s own grid. When it comes to those kinds of power drains (and noise) nothing beats cryptocurrency.
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Amazon will just build it’s own grid. When it comes to those kinds of power drains (and noise) nothing beats cryptocurrency.
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Amazon will just build it’s own grid. When it comes to those kinds of power drains (and noise) nothing beats cryptocurrency.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/us/north-carolina-crypto-mine-noise-weir-wxc/index.html
BTW, the data centers get power during outages for the surrounding areas… wonder how that works?
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Cloud datacenters have extensive backup and generation capabilities onsite – usually not at all green.
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as does Walmart, Lowes, and most hospitals and 911 dispatch, etc…
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FCC regulations and best practices have required telecom companies to have backup power for decades. If something is essential to public safety or the economy, it damn well better have backup power. Ah, that made me feel like Director Vance.
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backup systems are normal and not going to go away anytime soon… I supposed it’s possible, they may eventually go to battery backup systems but for a place like WalMart, it would have to be a huge honker ….. for 12, 24 hours.. days..
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The Shadow knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. Oldie but goodie.
Meet the new boss. Just like the old boss. When I wrote about the coalition running an ad to oppose Dominion’s profit-raising bill, I specifically mentioned Amazon. Ten years ago on those issues the data center industry refused to engage, but Amazon does and will. And don’t forget who owns the Washington Post. Even Dominion never thought of that!
The idea of granting a sales tax exemption only to those who meet certain capital spending or hiring goals is, let us say, creative. Not seen that elsewhere but perhaps I’m missing something. Also not sure it passes constitutional muster if somebody has the cohones to challenge it. As to the fiscal impact estimate….Dick, you can’t be so naive as to fail to understand those are often tilted.
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Massachusetts offered a tax break for hiring/payroll to Raytheon in the 1990s. You really can’t leave loopholes. If I recall correctly, they closed a plant, increased pay to ULM and officers resulting in a loss of jobs AND a tax break.
Legislatures are amateurs when compared to corporate legal offices.
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“Legislatures are amateurs when compared to corporate legal offices.”
Legislatures are amateurs when compare to just about any competently run operation. And our legislature is part-time and heavily funded by special interests.
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In the past, legislative impact statements were not “tilted” very often. DPB used to challenge the agencies on their estimates and provide its own projections. Now, I see less and that, with DPB serving as a compiler of what the agencies contend would be the impact. As it did in this LIS, DPB just passed the buck by saying, in effect, “This is what the Dept. of Taxation says…” And, yes, I strongly suspect that the Governor’s office had a strong say in how this one read.
Good work Dick. You and Haner have the franchise on reporting on such matters.
This was an outstanding article. Thanks for providing.
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