Is energy the next telecom? The acquisition by US telco PAETEC of electricity supplier US Energy Partners for $3 million cash could be more than just a straw in the wind.

 

PAETEC said the deal would allow it to provide “complementary” services to its corporate customers.

 

“We have over 44,000 medium and large business customers nationwide, and we've found that our average customer spends four times as much on energy as they do on telecommunications,” said PAETEC COO E.J. Butler Jr.

 

“Now that customer data centers and IT departments have become a primary user of energy, both telecom and energy are becoming increasingly complementary. We've seen a trend towards energy decisions being made by the office of the CIO, and this acquisition further supports that strategy.”

 

The logic is powerful to telcos and IT services firms selling services through the CIO, who must deal with soaring power costs in the corporate data center.

 

Privately-held US Energy sells electricity to over 3,500 customers in western New York state.

 

“The addition of US Energy Partners makes our entire communications product set stronger and more attractive for our target customers,” Butler said.

 

It is not PAETEC’s first energy acquisition. It bought electric and gas brokerage VARO Technologies in 2008.