Google Shares Power Bill Details

Google typically keeps the books closed on the power supplied to its data centers like the $600 million Goose Creek site.

But the New York Times reports that the internet company opened up Thursday about the energy needed to fully supply these server farms. The company reportedly uses enough electricity to power 200,000 homes.

Those data centers around the world continuously draw almost 260 million watts — about a quarter of the output of a nuclear power plant.

That sounds like a lot of power, but the company argues that the efficiency of searching for something on the internet is actually an energy saver. And the company notes the data centers themselves are more energy-efficient than most.

Unlike many data-driven companies, Google designs and builds most of its data centers from scratch, including its servers that use energy-saving chips and software.

In late 2010, Google announced that it would be building a second data center building at its Goose Creek site, expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.