Electrical power usage is not a typical design criterion for data centers, nor is it effectively managed as an expense. This is true despite the fact that the electrical power costs over the life of a data center may exceed the costs of the electrical power system including the UPS and may exceed the cost of the IT equipment. Some reasons for this situation are as follows:

• Billed electrical costs are not clearly linked to any particular decisions or operating practices
• Tools for modeling the electrical costs of data centers are not commonly used during data center design
• Electrical bills for the data center may be included within a larger electrical bill

This paper shows how all of the above can be corrected to make substantial financial savings possible. The greatest advantage can be gained when designing new facilities, but some savings are possible for existing facilities as well.