Australia’s recently-repealed “carbon tax” had a direct impact on power prices, and power is one of the biggest components of data centre operating costs. But if you think that means cloud computing prices are about to fall, think again.
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Simon Sharwood at The Register asked a stack of local cloud providers if their prices were going to change, and essentially was given versions of “no” and “no comment”. That’s not entirely surprising: for by-the-hour cloud options, prices are often so low there’s not a lot of room to move costs. Regulators have said they will be looking to ensure cost savings are passed on, but that activity largely focuses on power providers themselves, not their users. And if cloud providers have chosen to absorb any costs, they’re not obliged to give them back. Hit the post for more on the responses.
Carbon tax repeal won’t see data centre operators cut prices [The Register]
Comments
5 responses to “Cloud Providers Won’t Be Cutting Prices To Reflect A Lack Of Carbon Tax”
I’m not sure about Cloud providers, but we have a separate line on our invoices for “Carbon Tax” from our data centre rack space provider, I’m expecting our costs to come down by at least that much!
expect a new line item in your invoice soon that just happens to be about the same as the carbon tax, as energy providers increased costs the week the carbon tax was removed, and surprise surprise the increase is about the same as the carbon tax cost itself
You’re in business right?
So you surely understand that that calculation is not how they set their prices, it’s just part of how they justify them.
You’re right, there may be a blip (step function) as they remove the charge to maintain appearances.
And then the prices will start returning to ‘whatever the market will bear’.
Price goes down x dollars dues to carbon tax, only to go up the exact same amount due to another non related price rise, the consumer is in the exact same situation with the carbon tax as without, whilst the companies reap the benefits with no legal consequences, regardless of what Clive Palmers amendments are
Have to give Palmer credit for giving it a good try though. That guy has pleasantly surprised me.
Me too. I’m not sure of his motivations, but at the moment he seems the last best hope for many of the more small-l-liberal among us. Having acknowledged that, I’m gonna go cry in the corner now.