Why VCs have fallen for alternative energy

You may have heard about the recent power outages on Sand Hill Road, the home of most of Silicon Valley’s high-powered venture capitalists.

VCs continue to complain about major disruptions. Three outages have hit in the past six weeks or so. When they strike, all of Sand Hill goes dark for eight to 12 hours, from Highway 280 down to Sharon Heights (which aside from dozens of VC firms, hits the tony Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club). It’s a huge productivity killer — after about an hour, of course, everybody gives up and goes home.

After Elevation Partners’ purchase of a stake in Palm a few weeks ago, Elevation partner Roger McNamee, whose office is in Sand Hill Road, at least could try checking email via smartphone — but Sand Hill Road is notoriously spotty in its cell coverage too. We did finally get through for an interview. On his end, McNamee apologized, and otherwise sat in an quiet, lifeless office to take our call.

There’s been an uproar by others, and the memo below from the landlord describes what PG&E was doing to respond. VCs do have some clout. PG&E rushed in a few days ago to plant emergency above-ground electrical wiring to provide a more reliable supply to 3000 Sand Hill Road, home to Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, Trinity and others. The arrow below points to the fresh dirt.

Sand Hill is supposedly ground zero of one of the most tech-advanced societies in the world.

Now you know the real reason VCs are desperately investing in power companies If you’re an entrepreneur pitching over there, remember to make all your calls before getting there, and take extra batteries for your powerpoint demo. Water and other rations may help.

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