Google is improving the flexibility of its data centers’ power use in what it says is an effort to make the U.S. power grid more stable and affordable.
The technology giant announced on Thursday that it is integrating 1 gigawatt of “demand response” into its utility contracts in the South and Midwest. Demand response involves energy customers adjusting their operations based on the needs of the power grid. If the grid is using a lot of power in a given hour, factories or data centers scale down.
The process is often pitched as a potential — if partial — solution to rapidly growing energy load forecasts. Nationwide, the expansion of data centers account for more than half of the projected 32 percent jump in electricity demand over the coming five years, according to the consultancy Grid Strategies.
“Demand response enables our data centers to be valuable assets for the power grid,” Michael Terrell, Google’s head of advanced energy, wrote in a blog post. “Our ability to shift or reduce our energy demand can help utility companies balance supply and demand and plan for future capacity needs. These agreements create a smart solution to make the electricity systems that serve our data centers more affordable and reliable.”
