Notes From the Epicenter: Powering Down the Web

Andrea Dudrow

Every morning, after I wake up to the sound of the day’s news coming out of my electric alarm clock, I amble into the kitchen, turn on the electric lights, flip the switch on my electric coffee maker (which, being an older model, doesn’t make the coffee hot enough, so I have to put it in my electric microwave oven for a couple seconds), and pull the milk out of my electric refrigerator. I return calls on my electric cordless telephone, and, finally, I turn on my electric computer and log on to the electric Internet.

At least that’s the way my morning used to go. These days, in California, it’s a different story, because we’re in the middle of what the newspapers are calling a power crisis. Which means that there’s not enough electricity to go around, and rolling blackouts are sweeping San Francisco. So I may be able to make my coffee, but I may not. I may be able to keep my milk cold, but I may not. And I may be able to log onto the Internet, but I may not.

A Not-so-Friendly Reminder
I always knew I was dependent on electricity for my coffee, for my milk, for my news. But for some reason I hadn’t fully realized just how dependent I am on the Internet. And lately I’ve been forced to confront the somewhat disconcerting reality that the Internet runs on electricity. I suppose I’d always labored, conveniently, under the notion that such a new form of communication couldn’t possibly be run by such an old-fashioned thing as electricity. Turns out it could be, and is.

There are a lot of factors contributing to the California power crisis, and it seems everyone I talk to has a slightly different understanding of why we’ve suddenly found ourselves without a resource we’ve been taking for granted for close to a century. Most people agree, however, that the 1998 deregulation of the utility industry has a lot to do with it.

Blame the Internet?
But what about the Internet? Does it make a difference that our California-based new economy is powered by the Internet and, in turn, by electricity? A report quoted widely by incoming president Bush says the Internet, including Internet related hardware such as servers and routers and such, accounts for a massive eight percent of the nation’s electricity. Those numbers have been disputed, and some analysts are even saying that the Internet has helped lower energy requirements for non-virtual businesses. Regardless, the question of what California’s energy crisis means to the future of the Web remains.

One thing that’s sure is that this crisis will not slow the march of technology. We’re living in a world where scientists have learned how to stop light, for goodness sake, and we will continue to power this most important aspect of our new, connected lives.

I think the power crisis is more a testament to a faulty political system (or perhaps just a few faulty decisions on the part of those who run that system) than to a faulty new economy. I mean, it’s pretty pathetic that we can do something like alter the properties of light, but we can’t keep the Internet turned on all day in San Francisco.

Here to Stay
But the Internet isn’t going anywhere. Just as people persisted in putting up millions of little electric lights during the holiday season, power crisis or no, business and individuals will continue to rely on the Internet for everything from communication to shopping to news-gathering. And if California wants to continue to be the vanguard of the new economy, it’d better figure out how to keep the Internet supplied with the power it needs. The Web is here to stay, because without it, we really would be back in the dark ages.