Fault managed power (FMP) is relatively new topic of conversation in information and communications technology (ICT) circles. The recognition of Class 4 power in the 2023 National Electrical Code raised FMP’s profile, and the topic has been an agenda-topper for many ICT industry conferences, articles, and educational materials.
But the technology itself is more than a decade old and has in excess of a thousand deployments in multiple environments and applications. On May 2, we at Cabling Installation & Maintenance hosted a webinar during which part of the discussion was the use of FMP in data centers. Known for being power-hungry facilities, data centers may not be the first environment that comes to mind when one thinks about FMP’s uses and capabilities. But in this webinar—sponsored by VoltServer and delivered by VoltServer’s vice president of business and market development Ronna Davis alongside Southland Industries’ principal electrical engineer Michael Starego—a practical, technical, and economic case was presented for using FMP in those spaces. Specifically, Starego compared and contrasted the common alternating current (AC) power infrastructure for a data center, with that of an FMP-based infrastructure.
The image on this page is taken from Starego’s portion of the webinar presentation. Also in his presentation, Starego delivered an analysis of powering a 6-megawatt data center using traditional AC versus using FMP. That analysis includes a parts-and-labor summary that concludes the use of FMP can result in multiple-millions of dollars in savings.
The data center analysis occupied approximately 20 minutes of the hour-long seminar. In the remainder of the time, VoltServer’s Davis discussed essentials of FMP technology and the relationship between FMP and Digital Electricity™. (Digital Electricity is a name trademarked by VoltServer; fault managed power is generic terminology for Digital Electricity. The two are often used interchangeably.) She also detailed the practicality of using FMP in other environments and applications, including campus and outdoor spaces, parking lots, shipping ports, airports, warehouses and distribution centers, office environments, and industrial plants.
