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Data centers are cutting power to homes, driving homeowners to solar and batteries (electrek.co)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/energy@slrpnk.net
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[–] 26 points 3 months ago (3 children)

We need to pass laws to force data centers off the electrical grid. Make them use solar and batteries.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago

    I'm with you in spirit, but I've been wanting to go PV+battery for far longer than the AI plague has been a thing. I'd like to be able to afford both of those. Otherwise, we'd be adding them to the list of unobtaniums along with SSD, memory, and GPUs.

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  • [–] [S] 6 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Not incorrect but we're heading towards a future where the grid might be a backup option. Which benefits us all.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    We've basically had this scenario unfold in the Netherlands during the last ~15 years. It lead to energy companies charging customers for sending their excess electricity to the grid for some reason.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Wow! That's like, the opposite of how you ensure a grid is robust.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    Idk what's going on in NL, but here in Estonia it's necessary because there's so much excess production in the summer sometimes that it could destabilize the grid if it was all allowed to the grid.

    This makes the fossil fuel plants shut down completely during excess periods and people get smart inverters and batteries to prevent selling to the grid when there's too much production.

    It's a variable rate though. For example tonight the lowest price will be 1.45 cents per kWh, but if there's a ton of sunlight being predicted for a weekend in the summer, it can go negative.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    Data centres not being able to get connections to the grid is making them get gas generators, e.g. this. We need to be taxing that more, not arbitratily limiting electricity usage and forcing businesses into using fossil fuels.

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