Big Techs Energy-Hungry Data Centers can be cut off during the emergencies of the grids

Harrisburg, father. (AP)-With the explosive growth of Big Tech’s data centers that threaten to overload US electricity networks, policymakers watch a hard solution for a tough-love solution: The energy-hungry data centers from the grids during the emergencies. Texas moved first, as state lawyers in the data center Hotspot try to protect against another deadly eclipse, such as the winter storm in 2021 when dozens died. Now the concept appears in the 13-state mid-atlantic grid and elsewhere, as massive data centers come online faster than power plants can be built and connected to grids. It has provoked a setback of data centers and major technology, for whom a steady power source is essential. Like many other countries, Texas wants to attract data centers as an economic blessing, but it is the challenge to cope with the large amount of electricity the centers demand. Lawmakers there approved a bill in June that ordered, among other things, power emergencies standards when help programs have to disconnect large electrical users. In theory, it would save enough electricity to avoid a broad eclipse on the handful of days during the year when it is the warmest or coldest and power consumption of grids to their boundaries or further. Texas was first, but it won’t be the last, says analysts, now that the late 2022 debut of Openai’s chatgpt worldwide has set fire to chatbots and other generative AI products that usually need large amounts of computer power to train and operate. “We’re going to see the kind of things come up everywhere,” says Michael Weber, a professor of engineering at the University of Texas who specializes in energy. “Data center boweliness will be expected, required, encouraged, mandate, whatever it is.” This is because grids cannot keep up with the rapidly growing number of data center projects unfolding in Texas and perhaps 20 other countries, as the US competes in a race against China for superior intelligence superiority. Roast operators in Texas, the large plain states and the Midatlantic region have produced forecasting projections that show that electricity demand will rise in the coming years, mainly due to data centers. A proposal similar to Texas’ emerged from the largest grid operator of the country, PJM Interconnection, which runs the mid-Atlantic timetable that serves 65 million people and data center hotspots in Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The CEO of the Southwest Power Pool, which operates the network that serves 18 million people, mainly in Kansas, Oklahoma and other Great Plains States, said it has no choice but to extend power reduction programs to the biggest power users to meet the growing demand. The proposals are incorporating at a time when electricity bills are rising nationally – according to the federal data – twice the inflation rate – and growing evidence suggests that the accounts of some regular Americans are increasing to subsidize the gigantic energy needs of major technology. Analysts believe the construction of power stations cannot keep up with the growth of demand for data centers, and that something needs to change. “Data Center Load has the potential to overwhelm the network, and I think it’s on its way to doing so,” said Joe Bowring, who is head of monitoring analytics, the independent market watchdog in the Midatlantic Grid. Big technology is trying to make their data centers more energy -efficient. They also install backup generators, usually fueled by diesel, to ensure an uninterrupted power supply if there is a power failure. However, the data center operators say they did not expect to need the backup power supply to help network operators meet demand and look carefully to how utility regulators in Texas write the regulations. The Data Center Coalition, which represents large technical enterprises and data center developers, wants the standards to be flexible, as some data centers may not switch as easily or as quickly as others to the backup. The timetable operator should also balance the system with financial benefits for voluntarily closing data centers during emergencies, then Diorio of the Data Center Coalition said. PJM’s newly released proposal is about a concept in which proposed data centers will not be guaranteed to receive electricity during an emergency. This has caused a stir among power stations and the technology industry. Many people have questioned the legitimate authority of PJM to enforce it or to the destabilization of energy markets and states that deter investors and developers with uncertainty and risk. “It is especially of the opinion that states within PJM’s footprint are actively competing with other US regions for the data center and digital infrastructure investment,” the Digital Power Network, a group of bitcoin miners and developers of the data center, told PJM in written comments. The governors of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois and Maryland said they are concerned that it is too unpredictable to provide a permanent solution and that it is at least associated with incentives for data centers to build new power sources and voluntarily reduce the use of electricity. Others, including advocates for consumers, have warned that it will not lower electric accounts and that PJM should instead bring your own generation for data centers to essentially build their own power source. In Indiana, Google has taken a voluntary route. Last month, the Electric Utility, Indiana & Michigan Power, and the technical giant filed a power preparation contract with Indiana regulators for a $ 2 billion proposed data center planned in Fort Wayne, in which Google agreed to reduce the use of electricity there when the network is emphasized. The data center will, according to the use, reduce the use of electricity by delaying non-ringing tasks when the electric is just under less stress. However, important details are kept from the public and Ben Inskeep of the Citizens Action Coalition, a consumer advocacy group, said it makes it unclear how valuable the arrangement really is, if at all. To a certain extent, great users of the timetable offer a new approach to electricity during periods with high demand. This can save money for regular taxpayers, as power is the most expensive during the peak consumption periods. Abe Silverman, an energy researcher at Johns Hopkins University, said that data centers can use all the electricity they want and use on most days. But taking data centers off the net for the handful of hours during the most extreme heat or cold, it would not have to spend billions of dollars to build a lot of power plants, he said. “And the question is: Is it worth it? Is it worthwhile for society to build those ten new power plants just to serve the data centers for five hours a year? ‘ Silverman said. “Or is there a better way to do that?” ___ Follow Marc Levy on X by: https://x.com/timelywriter