UScellular

Critical Infrastructure Sustainability | High-Efficiency UPS Supports Green Critical Infrastructure

UScellular (USC) needed to upgrade their critical infrastructure to be more reliable and sustainable, so they teamed up with MDI Access (MDI), their longstanding partner, to research and help develop the greenest and most energy-efficient plan for their data centers.

This involved a series of approvals, not only from the Critical Assessment Board but also their local utility company, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) who would potentially provide financial incentives to companies who are implementing energy efficiency in their operational practices.

They replaced their aging Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) with Mitsubishi Electric’s high-efficiency UPS: The SUMMIT Series® UPSs. By installing these highly efficient UPS systems, along with a handful of other green initiatives, USC received hundreds of thousands of dollars in rebates from ComEd.

Mike Popovic, USC's Data Center Manager, says "The facility was about 25% full and we were spending over $1M a year in utility costs. Right now, we’re almost 100% full and we’re spending about $500-700k a year. That’s at 100% full. So think, if we didn’t put the Mitsubishi SUMMIT UPS in place, we would have been probably at $2M a year in utility costs. We’ve seen a substantial savings using your products."

“Throughout the years, MDI has assisted us with growth with whatever available technologies there are. They also help us with existing old technologies, so they’re our one-stop-shop for [Mitsubishi’s] product, as well as other data center related components or infrastructure we have here and sites throughout the entire United States. ”

DataBank, headquartered in Dallas, TX, has two locations in Pittsburgh - PIT1 and PIT2. While Mitsubishi Electric supplies both locations with Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), there was a need for a speedy battery maintenance service at PIT2, despite such an urgent service being outside the scope of their UPS Master Service Agreement.

"It was just an email and a phone call," says Robert Pohodich, PIT2's Critical Infrastructure Engineer. "Having a relationship like that with Mitsubishi, especially when it's a critical problem and [knowing that] they're going to react to your needs... we're appreciative of [that]."

Pohodich goes on to say that DataBank’s partnership with Mitsubishi Electric is the “most reassuring thing” and that there is “never an issue - you just know they’re going to be there.” 

Dean Dahl is the Facility Manager at a company that manufactures and delivers technological solutions to the transportation and defense industries.

One day, his facility team noticed a funny smell emitting from its batteries, and they realized the worst had happened: their batteries had gone into thermal runaway. A potentially disastrous situation was rapidly ensuing, and the client knew they had to act fast. Dahl’s experience working with a competitor’s service team was a pain - they were slow and bereaucratic in their approach. 

Strike two happened when the client installed new CRAC units and had to relocate their batteries to go with their UPS. The competition was unwilling to perform this service, leaving the client’s critical needs unmet.

In both situations, CPT - A Service Branch of Mitsubishi Electric pulled through for Dahl and his team. 

“[I am a] fan of Mitsubishi and CPT because I know they have my back and give accurate [and] trusted free advice,” says Dahl. Transparency, guidance, and cost savings are highly valued by the client, and Dahl has expressed that this aspect is essentially non-negotiable. “When I can’t get that,” he says, “I change contractors.”

Dahl goes on to say his facility experienced several utility power outages, and the UPS has worked "flawlessly."

Jim Cline is the retired Facility Manager of a global company specializing in creating innovative solutions in aerospace, defense, and security. Therefore, his critical infrastructure involved ensuring their customers' testing and development stays secure and meets their strict schedules.

When a competitor did not offer service contracts conducive to the client’s needs, they elected to forego a preventative maintenance agreement altogether. Though they were aware of the risks of not having regular maintenance, it took some adverse events to justify making the proper changes and getting a maintenance program in place. Enter CPT - A Service Branch of Mitsubishi Electric.

CPT assisted Cline and his team in finding a new, reliable UPS and establishing regularly scheduled maintenance visits. With pre-planned battery services, Cline says CPT has "totally changed our service world" and is now "like a family."

"[They] keep our sanity and have met every unrealistic schedule… in our job, we need a partner like that."

In reference to their Mitsubishi Electric UPS systems, Cline said they are "pretty much bulletproof" and have been "running consistently without issues."

Strategically located in underserved markets in the Southeastern US, DC BLOX set a goal to build one of the most technologically advanced regional edge data centers, prioritizing efficiency, security, and reliability. For this new facility, they wanted to advance their Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) design to industry-leading levels and decrease the maintenance costs associated with VRLA batteries.

When beginning their search for a UPS supplier, Mitsubishi Electric's name popped up. Jeff Williams, Vice President Operations, said he “spoke to references and heard nothing but good things.”

After working closely with The Mission Critical Management Group (MCM Group) and members of the Mitsubishi Electric team, DC BLOX selected the SUMMIT Series^® UPS, embraced the challenge of being the first lithium-ion battery installation in their AHJ, and purchased a three-year service contract.

“Mitsubishi Electric offers an exceptional balance of technical sophistication and value for what you get," says John Dumler, Vice President Data Center Design & Engineering. 

As stated by Bill Thomson, Vice President, Marketing & Product Management, becoming one of the most technologically advanced regional edge data centers requires partnering with “world-class companies like Mitsubishi.”

A large American broadcasting company contracted SourceBlue to quickly find a reliable backup power system to support their critical broadcasting equipment. The end user was in the market for a 100kVA Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) – and they needed it quickly. 

“We have a real good relationship with Mitsubishi. Whenever we have questions, they get responded to right away. I think you guys do a great job of responding in a timely manner, dealing with issues. And working with us on those has been really big,” says Jonathan Markum, Logistics Project Engineer at SourceBlue.

Our inside sales team and supply chain team quickly confirmed that there was a 9900B UPS in stock, as well as the necessary peripherals to meet the end user’s schedule and technical requirements. The end user purchased a VRLA battery cabinet, a maintenance bypass cabinet, and a bronze-level service contract for a complete backup power solution.

“We definitely enjoy working with you guys. You’ve been a good partner.” - Jonathan Markum

When asked about their experience, they said the following:

Jonathan

“I feel more confident; we definitely learned quite a bit. It was really cool to be able to prop open the doors and see the inside and be given an explanation of what all the parts and pieces were and how they worked.”

Stef

“I think Mitsubishi has exceeded the standard expectation of care of the client. From clear communication, clear agenda, really well-packaged and delivered set of tests and standards along with a really clean factory that shows very well...really confident and knowledgeable skillset the personnel have. The tests today really defined how Mitsubishi differentiates itself to others in the marketplace, and it was really clearly stated how Mitsubishi uses different components and perhaps even better components to reduce it’s footprint by increasing it’s efficiency overall as compared to the market." 

“Mitsubishi sets the tone of what should be expected. There are so many other manufacturers or representatives out there that use the opportunity like this to wine and dine a client, go through the factory for 18-22 minutes and go back out to the golf course or something like that. That’s really what we’re not about, we really value detailed knowledge, kicking open doors and pushing EPO buttons and all that stuff.” 

“We don’t buy from products, we buy from people - and you guys are amazing.”

Critical elements to Element Critical? Uptime and lowering Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) to create better customer value. With this mission in mind, they set off on two big projects: an expansion of their Chicago One location and a retrofit at Silicon Valley. They selected a Mitsubishi Electric 9900B UPS to achieve these goals.

“We’ve kicked other tires and looked at other vendors, but your unity power factor, super efficiencies, most modern (technologically advanced) IGBTs on the market, and innovation – it’s everything we want to piggy-back on and leverage. It’s a very robust box, very stout, and as we looked into the future to add capacity, we thought your product was right for us,” stated Cameron Wynne, Chief Data Center Officer at Element Critical.

He added that cost, speed to market, and efficiency were other top considerations in vendor selection. “I’ve had experience with these boxes at other colocation firms in the past and I think very highly of your product. It’s extremely robust and, quite frankly, I have a lot less people coming to my site operating and maintaining them as opposed to other vendors’ equipment.”

Mr. Wynne regards the UPS as “...the heart of the data center – the UPS does everything – it’s got all the brains, all the smarts. When it’s not working, neither are your customers. It’s critical to have a nimble, but flexible solid engineering company working with us. We’re riding your coattails on the innovation that you have in the marketplace...”

With total cost of ownership and the highest levels of reliability and efficiency at the forefront of their decision-making, Sabey Data Centers contacted Mitsubishi Electric as they set out to earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR certification for their Integrate Asburn facility.

John Sasser, SVP Data Center Operations, said “Mitsubishi has a highly efficient double-conversion UPS. After cooling, the electrical distribution is typically the best opportunity for PUE improvement in a data center, so high efficiency UPS are key to our Energy Star performance.” 

“We use Mitsubishi on multiple campuses, and Mitsubishi’s reliability is important to Sabey. The Mitsubishi UPS have been extremely reliable since installation and Mitsubishi stands behind their equipment. We appreciate this level of service."

Lifeline Data Centers had been using a competitor’s UPS and began noticing that it was not unusual for one of their UPSs to crash about every third time a storm passed through. Lifeline reached the breaking point with their supplier when one of their UPSs literally blew up when it went into bypass mode. Not surprising, Lifeline was anxious to make a change in their UPS supplier - one that “could stand up to a punch," according to Alex Carroll, co-owner of Lifeline Data Centers. 

The day after the catastrophic UPS failure, Carroll visited Mitsubishi Electric’s home offices in Pittsburgh, PA and the following day had a Mitsubishi replacement UPS up and running in his facility back in Indiana.

“In large part, because of a Mitsubishi partnership, Lifeline has not lost a customer - except to bankruptcy or mergers - over a 15+ year history.”

“For me, Mitsubishi is the only option out there capable of providing the high level of protection that will match the rest of the structure,” stated Carroll.

"We'd experienced a few incidents that shook our confidence in some of our vendors," says ViaWest's Director of Engineering and Construction, Todd Gale. "We had to find something better."

This is what prompted ViaWest's operations team to set some goals: maximize ROI, boost reliability, and increase efficiency with a single Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) manufacturer as standard for all new construction. 

“We did a comprehensive evaluation of everything on the market, based on published data and our operational experience. Even commissioned a third-party study comparing energy costs for the leading manufacturers. Based on price, performance, reliability, customer service, commitment, engineering support, senior management support… it became clear Mitsubishi [Electric] was the leader. And they’ve never disappointed us.”

“Here’s one example: Right after we chose Mitsubishi, we ordered a Model 9900B for one of our Colorado data centers. Our engineers had instructions to configure the system for a standard 750 kW load-bank test. With the Mitsubishi representative standing by, we gave it 25% of the rated load. Watching the displays, we could see it looked good. Now up to 50%. Still good. 75%, still good. 100%, still good. No sweat."

"We were pleased — I think there were a couple of fist bumps Then the Mitsubishi rep spoke up. ‘Hold on. Something’s not right. Look at this!’ It took us a second to get what he meant. There it was—an error in the configuration. Instead of the rated high of 750 kW, the system had been taking 1,000 kW—a 33% overload. Running cool, no hot spots. It was amazing. My impression was it could’ve run that way for 10 years. Any other system would have been on fire. Now, that’s quality engineering.”

When a competitor Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) failed at ViaWest's data center in Dallas, TX, the manufacturer couldn't commit to a delivery date for the repair parts, leaving ViaWest to figure out how to get the UPS up and running again in a timely manner. Mitsubishi Electric sprung into action, shipping a new 9900B 750kVA UPS cross-country overnight. In less than 48 hours, their new Mitsubishi Electric 9900B UPS was delivered, unloaded, installed, tested, and put online.

"It's amazing enough that the GM of a major manufacturer would be available at all hours on his cell phone, but that he would drop everything while he was at a conference, take a machine out of inventory, and put it on a truck with no more than a verbal agreement is an extraordinary example of service," says Dave Leonard, ViaWest's SVP of Data Center Operations at the time.

"We have a lot of very good suppliers, but I can't think of any other who would have made the decision so quickly and expedited it so thoroughly. Nobody else would have been close. The moment I decided we had to replace the machine, there was no question that we'd call Mitsubishi."