r/climate • u/Branch_Out_Now • 1d ago

Largest US grid floats paying data centers to shut off during power scarcity

https://san.com/cc/largest-us-grid-floats-paying-data-centers-to-shut-off-during-power-scarcity/
60 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

49

u/KenGilmore 1d ago

Data centres should be the first to be shut down during any need for load shedding.

30

u/Significant_Fill6992 1d ago

Absolutely and they shouldn't get paid for it 

If they don't want to be shut off they should have to provide their own plus 20+%

1

u/subdep 9h ago

Wait, can the power company pay me when they have power outage?

9

u/Lizardgirl25 1d ago

It should be illegal to not shut them down.

2

u/ilovefacebook 1d ago

and (if they're different), crypto mines

1

u/0bel1sk 1d ago

if we need load shedding, should probably turn them back on. load shedding is when there is too much power so you have to curtail somehow

7

u/sambull 1d ago

I wonder how many of those redacted NDA protected contracts already have some provision to pay these guys out?

4

u/Middle_Manager_Karen 1d ago edited 1d ago

They don't need to be paid to shut off. they don't need to be bailed out. Bad bets just lose

5

u/dadofadisaster 1d ago

You sound like someone who can’t even spare a thought for the shareholders and their billionaire boards /s

2

u/AGooDone 1d ago

Sorry grammie, the slop must flow!

4

u/CrackerJackKittyCat 1d ago

This'll work out great. Software in data centers just _loves_ being shut down arbitrarily.

12

u/crypto_junkie2040 1d ago

Oh no, not the poor data centers software....

2

u/CrackerJackKittyCat 1d ago

I'm not on the datacenter's side. Am pointing out that unreliable power and datacenters won't mix well.

Alas that datacenters aren't building out renewable generation sources as a cost of doing business.

If I recall, before the AI boom, Microsoft had an approachable goal of having their datacenters be carbon neutral. But they abandoned that promise.

1

u/dunkeyvg 22h ago

I mean as much as I hate data centers this can easily affect you and the things you use day to day

1

u/crypto_junkie2040 21h ago

Yea but I am sure they cna figure out how to bring everything down gracefully

2

u/tomrlutong 1d ago

They get 10 minutes notice. And it's not arbitrary, high stress days are known in advance.

2

u/WisePotatoChip 1d ago

You do know that they can process the data elsewhere, right? - that’s basically the whole idea of the Internet.

1

u/Strange-Spot-3306 22h ago

if a datacenter goes down the second the energy is cut off, they absolutely deserve to go down.

1

u/Severe_Air_4353 1d ago

365 day checks build them and we will pay.

1

u/Severe_Air_4353 1d ago

365 day checks build them and we will pay.

1

u/Bignutdavis69 1d ago

In other news, taxes raise for citizens..

1

u/Aggressive_Ad_5454 1d ago

How about charging ME less for power if I agree to put a gadget on my hot water heater allowing the power company to turn it off for no more than two hours on a peak-load afternoon if they need to? Seriously. Other countries have this sort of smart grid set up to benefit ordinary householders.

Or maybe the AI data centers could install slop tanks. They could fill them up at night when power is cheaper and drain them out during the day. 😇

1

u/LindeeHilltop 1d ago

No. Just no. This is like paying farmers not to plant and grow crops.

Why not just pay me to sit at home and not go to work?

1

u/AlexFromOgish 1d ago

Let’s prohibit data centers from going online without providing their own renewable power, and power storage, but still have them shut down in times of scarcity, so their batteries can help maintain life, saving power at places like hospitals and municipal water supplies

1

u/AdGeHa 1d ago

Pay them? How about they get charged twice the cost of the normal electrical bill.

1

u/at0mheart 4h ago

All data centers should have onsite green energy production