Posted on 02/02/2015 1:11:25 PM PST by Swordmaker
Apple will build a $2 billion global command center in Mesa, Arizona, the company announced Monday.
The new facility is expected to employ 150 full-time Apple employees and will hire 300 to 500 construction and trade jobs, according to a news release from Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. The tech giant said it would be one of the largest investments it has ever made.
Apple has pledged to completely power the facility with renewable energy, building out solar projects in the process.
"This multibillion-dollar project is one of the largest investments we've ever made, and when completed it will add over 600 engineering and construction jobs to the more than one million jobs Apple has already created in the U.S." Apple said in a statement on the project. The announcement comes four months after an earlier Apple plan for the 1.3 million-square-foot facility it bought in 2013 failed. Apple had a deal with Merrimack, New Hampshire-based GT Advanced Technologies to use the plant to make sapphire glass for its products, but the company declared bankruptcy in October after production issues developed.
GT openly accused Apple of using a "classic bait-and-switch strategy." Read MoreGT Advanced parting ways with Apple, will close Arizona facility
For its part, the Arizona government was happy to announce the major investment.
"This is a great day for Arizona, and we have moved rapidly to make this happen and take advantage of Apple's interest in our state," Ducey said in a release. "Apple is by far one of the most innovative and successful companies in the world. Its decision to bring this new facility to Mesa is a huge win for Arizona and a high testament to our business-friendly climate and talented workforce."
"This expansion will bring a significant economic investment, and propel Arizona's position as one of the best states in the nation in which to do business," he added.
Read MoreNext for Apple: How much will iPhone demand drop? Apple's renewable energy initiatives set a high bar for its competitors, according to a statement from Greenpeace following the Apple announcement.
"Other major data center operators, especially market leader Amazon Web Services, should begin to match the speed and scale of Apple's progress by adopting renewable energy at a pace that matches their growth," Greenpeace Senior IT Sector Analyst Gary Cook said in the news release.
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Apple can’t tap the power grid without feeling guilty about it.
Smells leftist to me.
why does greenpeace feel compelled to snuggle up to Apple??
Hope they have a big battery back-up. Hmmm...maybe a big emergency diesel too.
You mean they are not going to build in the leftest utopia of California? Maybe even Washington State?
“..Smells leftist to me.”
Apple has always been ultra leftist — working hard to feed a liberal customer base. Goes all the way back to its roots with its founders. Nothing new here.
Very odd, considering that solar farm is probably going to impact some rare desert lizard or some such.
Oh wait, greenpeace. The people that trampled all over the ancient Nazca Lines.
Never mind.
So the race is on between Apple and Google to see which is in charge of the NWO.
Hey, I’ll take my power from wherever I can get it. Coal, Nuke, Oil, Hydro, Solar.
I’m all for diversity. I can’t understand why all those lefties are so racist against black coal, and black gold.
And I’m the racist. Sheesh!
I would like to read more about what hey are building in Mesa. Instead we get blather about solar energy and some freaking idiot at Greenpeace quoted that “we have to do more.”
I would have loved to read that Apple had investigated all sources of power and decided highly efficient gas fired turbines were the best choice.
Other companies build their data centers where cheap abundant hydro power is located. This just shows that Apple’s earnings are so huge they can choose high-cost solar in an area where cooling water is scarce.
Their shareholders must enjoy biting the green lure.
We Must Save the Twelve Toed Sand Flea!!
Apple is doing energy independence at all of their installations and even making a profit doing it. They sell power back into the grid. Apple did it in North Carolina and they are planning to be completely independent at their new headquarters ring in Cupertino and sell power back. So far, as I understand it, they've made more than the cost of installations by the savings they've made when the cost of energy plus the income from energy sales are added together. They may be including the Federal and State Tax Credits into that, but I don't know whether that was included in their calculations of savings. They do anticipate continued future savings.
In 2012, Apple expended around $350 million for installing solar at the North Carolina Server Farm and other Apple installations around the country.
I would think this Arizona plant might be a tad more efficient than other installations they have in Oregon and Washington.
“Smells leftist to me.”
****************************************************
Making money and creating American jobs smells “leftist” to you? Perhaps you should get a referral to a good otolaryngologist in your area to see what is wrong with your “smeller”.
Apple is making Mac Pros in Austin, Texas. . . and iMacs in California. They have built their giant server farms in South Carolina and Oregon. . . and has just announced a new one near Reno, Nevada. They also are leasing space for another in Santa Clara, CA. And they are leasing storage from Amazon and Google.
I am pretty sure that Apple made the announcement they were building a new facility in Mesa, Arizona, not that they were building it solar powered, and stressed that they were creating jobs. The reporter heard what he was interested in. . . eco garbage. I will see if I can find the original Apple release on this, not the spin put on it by this Greenpeace activist oriented article.
Don’t need turbomachinery for electricity in AZ.
Palo Verde nuke plant does just fine (and does have turbines, just not natural gas...).
They have a massive data center in North Carolina that is solar. This is not new for them: http://www.citylab.com/tech/2014/08/inside-the-huge-solar-farm-that-powers-apples-icloud/375564/
No their shareholders (like me) like the stock performance...
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