Google Goes Electric to Get Quick Data Center Approval

One month before Google paid $4.8 billion for Intersect Power, the tech giant had a message for federal energy regulators: They should fast-track approvals for data centers that supply some of their own power.

Intersect does just that, producing power for data centers to allow them to operate without relying entirely on the grid. Google’s purchase of Intersect is the first step by a major tech company to acquire a power producer and could give it a lead if regulators green-light the changes it’s proposing.