1.5% sales tax savings, Apple's Remote Data Center Receiving Opportunity

GigaOm’s Katie Fehrenbacher went more in depth on Apple’s Reno Data Center than I did.

Apple makes progress on its solar-powered data center in Reno, but (of course) it’s controversial

by Katie Fehrenbacher

18 MINS AGO

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SUMMARY:

Apple’s Reno data center is already underway, but not surprisingly it’s a bit controversial: Apple has a deal for an 85 percent reduction on its property taxes.

In Katie’s post she points to another article about the receiving operations that is behind schedule. On page 2 of the article is an extra 1.5% sales tax savings.

Key to the sales tax break, however, is the ability to ship the computer equipment to a storefront inside a tourism improvement district. Under Nevada law, state officials can exempt a company from all but 2 percent of its 7.5 percent sales tax obligation. But if Apple opens a receiving center within such a district, it can whittle that remaining 2 percent down to 0.5 percent.

Let’s do simple math and just assume there is $15 million of capital equipment to be put in the 2.5 MW $15 million data center.  So the tax savings is $225,000 for this phase.  Is it worth it to build a receiving building, unload the material from a truck, unpack it, and put it back on a truck, ship it to the data center, unload it again, audit the material.  Doesn’t seem like it would be.  If Apple bought $1 billion of gear the tax savings is $15 million, but Apple needs to build the receiving operations, staff it, and run an extra processing step.  The numbers don’t make sense when you get into the details.

“They need it to work for them and their bottom line, and they’re struggling to make that pencil.”

...

“Owning or leasing a building, staffing the building, making sure the building is secure, paying for the operating costs and paying to transfer the equipment back and forth, and you’re starting to spend some money,” Hill said.

Disclosure:  I do part time freelance work for GigaOm Research.

Apple's 1 billion Reno Data Center has 1/66th built, $14.85 mil tax assessment

The media was all over Apple’s $1 bil data center in Reno.

Apple’s largest project in the area, however, is its new $1 billion iCloud data center that includes both a large, rural parcel of land within the nearby Reno Technology Park and plans to build new supporting facilities on the edge of downtown.

I don’t know about you, but my friends had a good laugh at speculation that Apple was building 1 billion worth of data centers in Reno.

Well here is a progress based on RGJ reporting on the tax benefits of the Reno data center.

Meanwhile, the data center is projected to generate more than $142,000 in property taxes for the 2013-14 fiscal year, according to the Department of Taxation. The amount is generated from a total taxable value of $14.85 million based on Washoe County Assessor data.

This construction cost fits with a 2.5 MW data center build.

Today, thanks to its high-profile tenant, the Reno Technology Park is starting to take shape. Earlier this summer, Apple completed its first phase — a 20,000-square-foot, 2.5-megawatt data center.

That is the wonderful power of the Apple brand.  Who else could get the amount of press coverage for a 2.5 MW, $15 mil data center building.  If you say this is the first of four phases, Reno could be 10MW and $60 Mil.  If this is one tenth, then you get 25MW and $150mil.  To get to $1Bil data center you need to multiple this first building by 66.

Katie Fehrenbacher makes a 2nd trip to Apple's Maiden Data Center, will she make a 3rd trip next year?

GigaOm’s Katie Fehrenbacher has a post on her 2nd trip to Maiden, NC to see Apple’s data center.  If you repeat a task you get better with experience and familiarity.  Katie took a trip to NC in July 2012 and wrote a series of posts on her visit including visiting Apple’s data center.

The ultimate geek road trip: North Carolina’s mega data center cluster

by Katie Fehrenbacher

JUL. 8, 2012 - 8:00 PM PST

 

Nov 2013, Katie returned to Maiden, NC and writes a well researched post on Apple’s renewable energy installation of 50MW.  Read Katie’s post to get the full report.  I’ll highlight a few points that shows how well Katie researched the post.

Katie gives background on her method

Apple has long been reticent about speaking to the media about its operations, green or otherwise. But I’ve pieced together a much more detailed picture of its clean energy operations after talking to dozens of people, many of them over the years. And Last week I got a chance to see these fully operational facilities for myself.

I walked around these pioneering landscapes, took these exclusive photos, and pondered why Apple made this move and why it’s important. This is Apple’s story of clean power plans, told comprehensively for the first time.

Katie points out that it is not possible for Apple to directly use the power from the its renewable energy sources.

Apple’s second 20 MW solar panel farm, which is about 15 miles away from the data center near the town of Conover, North Carolina, is also up and running. All told, the three facilities are creating 50 MW of power, which is about 10 MW more than what Apple’s data center uses. Because of state laws, the energy is being pumped into the power grid, and Apple then uses the energy it needs from the grid. But this setup also means Apple doesn’t need large batteries, or other forms of energy storage, to keep the power going when the sun goes down and its solar panels stop producing electricity.

Here is a nice picture Katie took.  One of the comments made said Katie should have used Panorama mode to get a wider view.

Apple’s solar power farm stretches for 100 acres

One of the funnier comments I read was a person saying the use of sheep is “iSheep" to clear the grass growing around the solar panels

You can see in the above picture that the grass is neatly maintained. Apple manages the grass under the panels in a variety of ways, but one of those is a little more unusual. Apple works with a company that ropes in sheep that eat the grass on a portion of the solar farm; when the sheep finish grazing on one spot, they’re moved to the next.

It’s a more sustainable option than running gas-powered mowers across the farm, and also has the added benefit that sheep can get into smaller spaces and up close to the panels. Some companies use goats to eat grass on plots of land, but goats could chew on the farm’s wiring and solar panel parts.

Apple’s 2nd solar array is 15 miles from the data center and putting the power on the grind makes much more sense than trying to bring the power back to the data center.

Apple’s second solar farm about 15 miles from its data center in North Carolina

Since the second solar farm is a ways away from the data center, it’s also an example of why Apple’s business with the utility is important. The power goes into the power grid near the solar farm, and Apple can use the equivalent back at its data center.

And Katie closes identifying Apple’s leadership.

Change often times happens incrementally. From the outside that happened with clean power and Internet companies in North Carolina. But sometimes crucial change happens with a single brush stroke or a single outlier decision. That’s how I see Apple’s clean power facilities in North Carolina — right now, they stand alone.

Disclosure: Katie is a good friend and I work freelance for GigaOm Research.  And after a post like this, it reminds me part of what I enjoy discussing is who is doing some of the coolest stuff in environmental efforts.

Seems kind of obvious that within the next year or two Katie will return to Maiden, and who knows what she’ll be able to write about then.

Katie’s post got picked up by others.

Gigaom checks out Apple NC data center's renewable-energy infrastructure tuaw.com - ‎12 hours ago‎ Apple's huge Maiden, NC, data center has recently become something else -- a net power provider of clean energy to Duke Energy. Gigaom's Katie Fehrenbacher took a look at Apple's new power-production facilities, which generate a total of 50 MW ...   A Closer Look at Apple's North Carolina Renewable Energy Power Plant Mac Rumors - ‎20 hours ago‎ After building large solar power and biogas fuel cell generating facilities at its Maiden, North Carolina data center, Apple is one of the of the largest non-utility clean energy generation companies in the country. As of a report earlier this year, Apple uses 100% ...   Report profiles Apple's pioneering clean energy projects in North Carolina [photos] 9 to 5 Mac - ‎20 hours ago‎ The site decided to take a look into Apple's decision to take renewable energy into its own hands just as North Carolina utility Duke Energy is requesting that the state allow it to sell clean energy to large corporate customers. Google is one of the large ...   Apple's Green Energy Efforts in North Carolina Inspires Industry Shift Wall St. Cheat Sheet - ‎14 hours ago‎ Did Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) renewable energy initiatives in North Carolina boost the state's clean energy industry? As noted by GigaOM, North Carolina-based Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) recently requested regulators for permission to begin selling clean ...

5 Steps to protect your iPhone or iPad if lost or stolen

Unfortunately a lost or stolen iPhone is part of life and there are too many people out there who will take your phone when you put it down.  My son just had his phone most likely stolen on Tues and it has not shown up.  After going through a bunch of what could be done, I figured out the following as good steps to take.  I did some of these but not all, and have now taken these steps with mine and the rest of the families iPhones

1. Install the latest iOS 7 release that allows you to keep the phone from being re-imaged unless you turn off Find iPhone.

2. Turn on Find iPhone with Activation Lock.

3. Disable ways to go into Airplane Mode.  Airplane mode turns off cell and wifi connections so you can’t ring or Find the iPhone.

4. You can try going to your carrier or police, but if you can’t find the iPhone there isn’t much they will be able to do.

5. Monitor your usage and Find iPhone to see if there is any activity from your account.

So let’s walk through these five steps.

1. Install iOS 7 to protect your phone with Find iPhone.

Forget iTunes Radio, thin fonts, and multitasking. The most important new thing about iOS 7 might be that your friendly neighborhood police officer loves it.

That’s right: In New York and elsewhere around the country, law enforcement officials are actively encouraging iPhone and iPad users to upgrade to Apple’s new mobile operating system. Why? Because the new Activation Lock feature in iOS 7 makes the phone very difficult to use or to wipe and resell if it gets stolen. Police and prosecutors hope that this technological development will lead to a reduction in smartphone thefts.

2. The specific feature you want is Find My iPhone with Activation lock.

With iOS 7, Find My iPhone includes a new feature called Activation Lock, which makes it more difficult for anyone else to use or sell your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if you ever lose it. It starts working the moment you turn on Find My iPhone in iOS 7. With Activation Lock, your Apple ID and password will be required before anyone can:

• Turn off Find My iPhone on your device
• Erase your device
• Reactivate and use your device

3.  I had done the previous two steps, but I didn’t do this.  Disable ways to get to Airplane Mode.  Why?  Because someone grabs your phone puts it in airplane mode and now you can’t ring it or find it, because it is not connected to the Internet or Cell network.  Most of us use airplane mode from settings, but without a password you can get to Airplane Mode through the control center.  Turn off control center in lock mode if you don’t want just anyone to be able to make your iPhone disappear.

4 and 5.  My son’s iPhone has not had any activity (data, phone calls, or SMS) since it disappeared and it has been in offline mode the whole time which means most likely the phone was stolen, not lost.  Even if you hard reset a locked iOS 7 iPhone when you turn it back on it will show up on the network and you can see if through Find My iPhone.

It was a bit painful to go through this process.  Luckily I have another iPhone 4S for my son or a galaxy Note 1.  I have some other ideas too on how I could make it so my son is not a target of those on his school bus.  It is sad that kids will do this to others on a bus, but it is a harsh lesson to learn that some people will pray on your trust of thinking your mobile devices are safe.

It takes less than 2 seconds to swipe control center on iPhone and hit that airplane mode icon, and the phone is gone.  iPhone’s are so small it is easy to hide.  And, I am sure they are ready for the mistaken excuse of it looked my iPhone and I put it in my pocket by accident.

Who would have thought that the Tablet Wars are between Apple, Google, and Amazon

I have an iPad, Samsung Tablet, and a 1st generation Kindle Fire.   In the past month Apple, Google and Amazon have announced their new Tablets and CNET has a post on display quality.

iPad Air topped by Kindle Fire HDX in display quality test

The iPad Air has an "excellent" display -- but not quite as excellent as the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, DisplayMate says.

On Thursday I am getting a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.  During the day I find myself spending time in amazon’s, apple’s, and google’s mobile OS.  The true test on the Kindle HDX is what my kids think.  They are always making fun of the number of things I use during the day.  One of these days they may understand what I am doing what all the devices creating a mobile service solution. When I try to tell the story of what I am building I feel like it is bedtime situation.  My family usually gets sleepy, nods their head, “uh huh”, “yea”, and they are ready to go to sleep. I’ve learned this lesson and don’t tell the mobile stories unless I have someone who has the problem set we are trying to solve.  That’s when they are awake. 

What is interesting is Amazon, Apple, and Google are each trying to solve a different mobile problem which is defined by their business model.