Data center tweaks could unlock 76 GW of latest power capability within the US

Tech corporations, data center developers, and power utilities have been panicking over the prospect of runaway demand for electricity within the U.S. within the face of unprecedented growth in AI.

Amidst all of the hand wringing, a latest paper published this week suggests the situation may not be so dire if data center operators and other heavy electricity users curtail their use ever so barely.

By limiting power drawn from the grid to 90% of the utmost for a pair hours at a time — for a complete of a couple of day per 12 months — latest users could unlock 76 gigawatts of capability in america. That’s greater than all data centers use globally, according to Goldman Sachs. To place that number into perspective, it’s about 10% of peak demand within the U.S.

If data centers were to curtail their use more, they may unlock progressively more capability.

Such programs aren’t exactly latest. 

For many years, utilities have encouraged big electricity users like shopping malls, universities, and factories to curtail their use when demand peaks, like on hot summer days. Those users might turn down the air con or turn off thirsty machines for just a few hours, and in return, the utility gives them a credit on their bill.

Data centers have largely sat on the sidelines, as a substitute opting to keep up uptime and performance levels for his or her customers. The study argues that data centers might be ideal demand-response participants because they’ve the potential to be flexible.

There are just a few ways in which data centers can trim their power use, the study says. One is temporal flexibility, or shifting computing tasks to times of lower demand. AI model training, for instance, could easily be rescheduled to accommodate a temporary curtailment. 

One other is spatial flexibility, where corporations shift their computational tasks to other regions that aren’t experiencing high demand. Even with data centers, operators can consolidate loads and shut down a portion of their servers.

And if tasks are mission critical and might’t be delayed or shifted, data center operators can at all times turn to alternative power sources to make up for any curtailment. Batteries are ideally suited to this since even modestly sized installations can provide several hours of power almost instantaneously. 

Some corporations have already participated in ad hoc versions of those. 

Google has used its carbon-aware computing platform, originally developed to trim emissions, to enable demand response. Enel X has worked with data centers to tap into the batteries of their uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to stabilize the grid. And PG&E is offering to attach data centers to the grid quicker if operators comply with take part in a requirement response program.

These tweaks won’t completely eliminate the necessity for brand new sources of power. But they could turn a potentially catastrophic situation — through which half of all latest AI servers are underpowered — into one which’s more easily solved.