Google, Nvidia, Anthropic, Emerald AI and several electric utilities have formed an alliance to help data centers reduce or shift power use when the grid is strained. The group wants demand response to become a standard part of developing new AI infrastructure.
Demand response pays large customers to lower consumption during peak periods. Emerald AI’s software connects utilities with data centers so operators can pause noncritical computing or move workloads to another site with spare grid capacity. That offers an alternative to meeting requests by turning on diesel backup generators.
The AI Energy Management Alliance says flexible operation could make room for an additional 100 gigawatts of data-center load. Google and Nvidia are founding members alongside Emerald AI; Anthropic and utilities including AES, Constellation, National Grid and NRG Energy have also joined. A separate Goldman Sachs study estimated that holding maximum grid use to 90% for a few hours could free 76 gigawatts.
Those figures describe potential capacity, not power already secured for new facilities. Emerald AI’s chief scientist also cautions that flexibility will not eliminate the need for new generation. The approach can make better use of existing lines and plants, but it does not solve every local transmission, reliability or energy-supply constraint.