Rising electricity prices are prompting more states to threaten moratoriums on new data centers. But utilities, tech companies and grid operators say there’s an easier solution: turn down the power.
Demand response measures are popping up in utility contracts, state legislation, business deals and even public statements from the biggest U.S. tech companies. Google, for example, recently announced that it has agreed to turn down power use at its data centers across the South and Midwest when the grid is stressed, building in 1 gigawatt of demand response.
But actionable agreements are still few and far between. And with as many as 50 gigawatts of data centers expected to come online by 2030, policymakers are figuring out how to turn what they consider a good idea into a de facto part of data center operations.
“The price signals clearly are not enough to drive the investments on demand-side responses,” said Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Judy Chang, speaking on a panel last week at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference.
