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  "path": "/article/4130979/energy-providers-seek-flexible-load-strategies-for-data-center-operations.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-11T20:10:11.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.networkworld.com",
  "tags": [
    "Artificial Intelligence, Data Center, Data Center Design, Energy Efficiency, Energy Industry, Industry, Markets",
    "survey",
    "electric grid demand intensifies",
    "rapid expansion in data centers",
    "Dan Lawrence, CEO and co-founder of OBM",
    "operate like it has in the past",
    "here"
  ],
  "textContent": "A survey of U.S. energy professionals shows how critical load flexibility and demand response (DR) programs are to business operations as electric grid demand intensifies.\n\nRespondents said that rapid expansion in data centers, AI computing, and commercial electrification are driving shifting capacity and reliability concerns from long-range planning to one of daily operations planning.\n\nDan Lawrence, CEO and co-founder of OBM, which conducted the survey, said one of the biggest takeaways is that lot of utilities and energy companies are focused on data centers right now, but there’s still a lot of untapped potential in regard to energy flexibility that they see could be realized.\n\n“Data centers have responded in the past with maybe generators behind the meter, and that was generally more capacity focused,” he said. “But with the rate that capacity is coming on the grid, flexibility is key for them, and they need to fit into programs that the grid really needs.”\n\nHe defines flexibility as the ability to respond to a grid condition and react accordingly. For example, rerouting or dialing back on power in the event of megawatts disappearing from the grid due to a capacity constraint. It could mean turning the servers off under extreme loads or it could mean shifting over to batteries.\n\nIt might also mean slightly delayed response times. For example, if you want to query your favorite AI chatbot, you might be routed to a data center further away because it has more capacity to spare. So the potential impact on users is they may have to wait a second or two longer for a response, Lawrence said.\n\n“In theory, yes, they’d have to wait a little bit longer while their queries are routed to a data center that has capacity,” said Lawrence.\n\nThe one thing the industry cannot do is operate like it has in the past, where data center power was tuned and then forgotten for six months. Previously, data centers would test their power sources once or twice a year. They don’t have that luxury anymore. They need to check their power sources and loads far more regularly, according to Lawrence.\n\n“I think that for that for the data center industry to continue to survive like we all need it, there’s going to have to be some realignment on the incentives to why somebody would become flexible,” said Lawrence.\n\nThe survey suggests that utilities and load operators expect to expand their demand response activities and budgets in the near term. Sixty-three percent of respondents anticipate DR program funding to grow by 50% or more over the next three years.\n\nWhile they remain a major source of load growth and system strain, 57% of respondents indicate that onsite power generation from data centers will be most important to improving grid stability over the next five years.\n\nOne of the proposed fixes to the power shortage has been small modular nuclear reactors. These have gained a lot of traction in the marketplace even if they have nothing to sell yet. But Lawrence said that that’s not an ideal solution for existing power generators, ironically enough.\n\n“The utilities generally make a lot of their money off of transmission, distribution, running power through the lines. If people are able to connect to the grid and provide their own power and not use the utility lines, it ends up causing a revenue constraint on utilities now,” he said.\n\nThe result is a “big clash” over where’s the power going to come from and the people that are losing the ability to transport the power are wondering how they are going to get compensated.\n\nIronically, even though AI is considered to be the main reason for the explosion in power consumption, it’s also viewed as the solution to the problem to enhance grid flexibility. Half of respondents indicate that AI-driven load forecasting is a priority, while 57% say onsite generation remains the top strategy to make flexibility operational at scale.\n\nBy 2030, 44% of respondents expect at least half of their energy portfolio to consist of flexible or controllable loads, reflecting the growing importance of load management to function as a major grid resource.\n\nAnd with that, investments in DR programs are expected to increase. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) expect funding for DR programs to grow by 50% or more over the next three years.\n\nDownload a copy of The State of Flexible Load Management report here.",
  "title": "Energy providers seek flexible load strategies for data center operations"
}