NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - Google has signed agreements with five U.S. electric utilities in states from Arkansas to Minnesota to curtail its electricity use during periods of peak demand, the company said on Thursday, in its latest effort to secure power for fast‑growing data centers amid slow additions of new supply.
Immediate access to large amounts of electricity has become one of the biggest obstacles in Big Tech’s race to expand artificial intelligence technologies, which are developed in energy‑intensive server warehouses known as data centers.
With power supplies running short in some regions of the country, and new infrastructure often taking years to build, technology companies have recently taken unusual steps that have included constructing new power plants or bringing shuttered nuclear units back online.
Under the “demand response” agreements, Google will reduce electricity consumption at some data centers when demand on the grid is exceptionally high.
“This is a really important tool for meeting future demand,” said Michael Terrell, Google’s head of advanced energy.
Power demand typically spikes on very hot or cold days, when homes and businesses ramp up cooling or heating, increasing the risk of rolling blackouts. Utilities and grid operators maintain extra reserves and have long contracted with large energy users — including manufacturers and cryptocurrency miners — to scale back consumption during peak periods.
Google has now signed contracts with Entergy Arkansas, Minnesota Power and DTE Energy, adding to initial agreements announced last year with Indiana Michigan Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Under the contracts, Google is making up to 1 gigawatt of its data‑center electricity demand available for curtailment during peak‑use periods, when blackout risks are highest.
One gigawatt can power about 750,000 homes.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Mark Porter)
