Cogeco Data Services disconnects from the grid for Earth Hour

Company calls on IT industry to go beyond the hour

To view the Social Media Release, click here: http://smr.newswire.ca/en/cogeco-data-services/cogeco-data-services-disconnects-from-the-grid-for

TORONTO, March 24 /PRNewswire/ - In support of Earth Hour, Cogeco Data Services will disconnect from the electrical grid from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, relying instead on clean energy from its natural gas generator. In so doing, the company will reduce power consumption in the city of Toronto by approximately 750kW, the equivalent of turning off over 12,000 60-watt light bulbs. This is just one small step for the environment, and the company is calling on the IT industry to do more.

"Our unique ability to disconnect from the electrical grid and power our data centre using clean burning natural gas has a positive impact on the environment and we are looking forward to doing our part for Earth Hour. However, as the demand for cloud computing services grows and the need for colocation facilities increases, the IT industry must go above and beyond Earth Hour to create long term strategies and standards to reduce power consumption in data centres," said Tony Ciciretto, President, Cogeco Data Services.

IDC expects cloud computing to grow by 40 per cent over the next three years. According to Greenpeace International, electricity consumption for data centres will reach 1020 billion kWh by 2020, from 330 billion kWh in 2007. The IT industry must focus on solutions that will slow this increase and help to green the industry overall.

During Earth Hour, Cogeco Data Services will rely on its natural gas generator, which allows the company to power its entire data centre using clean burning natural gas, a power source that produces 30 per cent less carbon emissions than oil burning power generation and 45 per cent less than coal-burning power generation.

In an ongoing effort to reduce its power consumption, Cogeco Data was the first Canadian company to use raised interstitial floors in a data centre. Raised interstitial flooring reduces the amount of energy needed to cool a data centre. The company also installed motion-sensor lighting in the Cogeco Data offices to keep facilities dark outside of regular business hours and requests all employees unplug non-essential electronic equipment when leaving the office for the evening and weekend.

"We are pleased to support the Earth Hour initiative and will continue to look for innovative ways that we can reduce our impact on the environment", said Ciciretto.

About Cogeco Data Services
With its suite of Business Communication Solutions (Data Centre and Storage Services, Voice and Connectivity Services), Cogeco Data Services supplies its customers with the fast, reliable and secure ability to access, manage, move and store large amounts of data worldwide. The Company's wholly-owned, redundant network is all-optical and offers near limitless bandwidth with services that scale to meet the needs of some of Canada's largest companies and public sector organizations.

For more information about Cogeco Data Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cogeco Cable Inc., visit cogecodata.com.

/NOTE TO EDITORS: Media Assets accompanying this story are available as follows:

Photo:  http://smr.newswire.ca/media/articles/1177/generators.jpg

http://smr.newswire.ca/media/articles/1177/floorspace.jpg

http://smr.newswire.ca/media/articles/1177/electrical.jpg

http://smr.newswire.ca/media/articles/1177/dsc-1512-1.jpg

SOURCE Cogeco Data Services