The response takes a couple of seconds, since the info is broadcasted from the device to the HID interface at random intervals (we are not doing any IOCTL stuff).

Any thoughts on making it a pollable daemon that's always listening for that info?

"Always available" data + the ability to shut things down would eliminate my personal need for NUT.

They say their monthly op-ex is $5500.

Our monthly operational expenditure (op-ex), which includes power, cooling, energy, and remote hands (although we seldom use this service), is now approximately $5,500.