Patent ID: 8146374

Claim:
A method of retrofitting a utility plant comprising: constructing a data center within three miles of the utility plant, the utility plant distributing an average of at least fifty percent of the electrical power it generates to a power grid, the utility plant having been commissioned before the construction of the data center begins; installing a first pipe system configured to divert a heating fluid from the utility plant to a fluid plant that uses the heating fluid to produce a cooling fluid; and installing a second pipe system to connect the fluid plant to a data center and to circulate the cooling fluid between the fluid plant and the data center; wherein the steps of constructing the data center, installing the first pipe system, and installing the second pipe system are performed as a retrofit to the utility plant, such that plans for the utility plant submitted for regulatory approval before the utility plant was commissioned do not include the data center, the first pipe system, or second pipe system; and wherein the data center comprises electrical components including a plurality of servers, the electrical components contained in the data center generating heat that is dissipated using the cooling fluid, the computer servers being configured to execute instructions and store and access data in a memory, wherein the computer servers are connected to a computing network.