💻 Google pays residents and businesses for giving up electricity for data centers
On October 22, Google and virtual power plant operator Voltus expanded their deal in the PJM grid from 100 MW to 1 GW. The Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) scheme works as follows: Google pays Voltus, which collects consent from homes and businesses to reduce consumption during peak hours—thermostats dim air conditioners, and batteries take over power supply. No new generators are built: the freed-up capacity goes to data centers.
🌍 Hyperscalers are addressing power deficits not by building power plants, but by purchasing flexibility: the price of peak power in PJM has increased more than 8-fold, with demand expected to reach up to 30–34 GW by the early 2030s.
👤 In the PJM zone (13 US states and Washington DC), such programs can provide payments or discounts on electricity bills.
Source 1: https://www.voltus.co/press/google-voltus-1gw Source 2: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/climate/google-voltus-virtual-power-plant.html