Even setting aside the environmental impact, this qualifies as a good deed; in a post on the Yodel Anecdotal blog, Chris Page noted that the Brazilian village most affected by the hydropower only had access to diesel generators before.

Still, the main motivation was the company’s drive to go carbon neutral.  Page wrote, “Yahoo! has decided to offset its 250 thousand metric ton carbon footprint from 2006 . . . .  What does 250 thousand metric tons look like?  Think of taking 35,000 cars off the road for a year, or turning off the lights on the Vegas strip for two months.”

This is a fairly big deal, in other words.  And it’s also a fairly smart PR move – Yahoo’s getting some publicity and “green cred” even as it accomplishes its pre-established goals.

On a less serious note, I have to point out that we all figured Google would be the world power within 20 or 30 years.  If Yahoo’s generating electricity, though, it could change that outcome.