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Greening the cloud: oligopoly-driven institutional transformations of the US electricity grid for commercial and industrial power purchases

Author

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  • Jerry Patchell
  • Roger Hayter

Abstract

To power cloud data centres (DCs) with renewable energy (RE) Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft negotiated innovative long-term contracts that opened up regional vertically integrated electricity utilities to allow new roles for large-scale suppliers and buyers of electricity. This transformation is explained using Williamson’s framework of institutional change linking the four interdependent institutional levels of embedded values, regulatory environment, (interfirm) governance and resource allocation. This framework is extended geographically by incorporating the regional and national interactions necessary for locating and spatially diffusing RE-driven DCs across the USA based on new power purchases and green tariff contractural agreements.

Suggested Citation

  • Jerry Patchell & Roger Hayter, 2021. "Greening the cloud: oligopoly-driven institutional transformations of the US electricity grid for commercial and industrial power purchases," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(2), pages 253-282.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cjrecs:v:14:y:2021:i:2:p:253-282.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cjres/rsab008
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    Cited by:

    1. Desmond Bast & Constance Carr & Karinne Madron & Ahmad Mafaz Syrus, 2022. "Four reasons why data centers matter, five implications of their social spatial distribution, one graphic to visualize them," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(3), pages 441-445, May.

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