When a company has onsite power for its headquarters, it's usually for backup purposes. But Apple's new Cupertino "Campus 2" will use its own natural-gas powered generators as its main power source, and use the local grid as a backup.
Apple says this inversion of typical power sources will provide them with cheaper, cleaner power than the grid does.
To me, that's pretty amazing, and brings up a couple of questions: Is Cupertino's grid especially dirty, and is gas really the cleanest kind of power that Apple can afford? Do they plan to install solar panels or windmills somewhere in the green space that's set to consume 80% of the new campus?
One way or another, I want to make a field trip there. Maybe even try to get a job there and move. I'm unlikely to find a place to work that's as pleasant. The pleasantness basically comes from its exclusion of cars and inclusion of trees. Hopefully the precedent they set will spread long before my retirement!
