This sounds like a good reason to have a lot of batteries.
weird-eye-issue•42m ago
A lot would probably be an understatement. Aren't most batteries in data centers designed to just hold load for seconds or a few minutes at a time while generators start up?
zephen•38m ago
Yeah, different batteries, different purposes.
Keeping the data center up is completely different from keeping the grid up.
Not only are the batteries too small; they're also on the wrong side of the disconnect.
forgetfreeman•41m ago
I'd rather see legislation banning crypto mining and AI data centers from the public grid entirely. No sense in forcing the broader public to subsidize them.
MBCook•25m ago
The problem with that is one of the best things we have to control pollution at power plants is the rules that go into place when connecting to the US grid (I know TX is different).
I really don’t want to incentivize private power plants that aren’t on grid. Or just running tons of industrial sized generators instead.
If we’re going to allow enough of this stuff to be built that it can destabilize things why not require they behave and don’t stop off like that? Some sort of organized draw down?
And if they don’t? Mandatory cutoff for X amount of time. Weeks/months.
toomuchtodo•22m ago
Ban private fossil generators above a certain size without a license. You can just do things. They can build as much solar and batteries as they want.
If they weren't on the public grid, they would just slap in a bunch of gas turbines and run one of the noisier, more polluting sources of electricity. I think it would be better if we required them to replace the power they used, but do so on the grid so that it benefits everyone.
BobbyTables2•8m ago
Didn’t Texas pretty much do the exact opposite thing recently?
rickydroll•27m ago
I think it's time to put data centers on a power budget. If they want to make more money, they need to become more efficient and eliminate AI fraud, waste, and abuse.
stldev•15m ago
Do we really need to keep slamming the grid and killing the planet for pseudonymous casino chips?
Can someone please merge crypto with llm training/inference somehow?
jeffbee•48m ago
weird-eye-issue•42m ago
zephen•38m ago
Keeping the data center up is completely different from keeping the grid up.
Not only are the batteries too small; they're also on the wrong side of the disconnect.
forgetfreeman•41m ago
MBCook•25m ago
I really don’t want to incentivize private power plants that aren’t on grid. Or just running tons of industrial sized generators instead.
If we’re going to allow enough of this stuff to be built that it can destabilize things why not require they behave and don’t stop off like that? Some sort of organized draw down?
And if they don’t? Mandatory cutoff for X amount of time. Weeks/months.
toomuchtodo•22m ago
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/google-confirms-1...
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/google-announces-...
rickydroll•24m ago
BobbyTables2•8m ago