The Dutch Data Center Association (DDA) has called upon the government to provide financial support for data centres hit by surging electricity prices.
According to Reuters, the DDA – the Netherlands’ trade association for data centres – has claimed that price increases are hurting smaller data centre operators, and has urged the government to provide financial support in the form of capping electricity prices, providing corporate tax breaks or introducing subsidies for businesses utilising cleaner energy.
Stijn Grove, the association’s spokesperson, was quoted as saying, “Nearly every business relies on a data centre, so they shouldn’t take this lightly. This is a sector of critical importance. We should not wait too long to do something about these prices because there could be a knock-on effect.”
Grove stated that, while price fluctuations have less of an impact on larger businesses, smaller companies do not hedge against energy prices and now have to reduce investments and pass extra costs onto customers.
“A price increase of nearly tenfold is causing cashflow problems and is also problematic for investments in sustainable energy projects. They are coming under pressure at these levels because you need to have that cash,” Grove added.
