Grid software company Emerald AI has formed the AI Energy Management Alliance (AEMA) with Google, Nvidia, and Anthropic, joined by utilities AES, Constellation, National Grid, and NRG Energy. The coalition wants demand response — data centers temporarily reducing electricity use — to become a standard part of data center development. AEMA says pausing noncritical tasks and shifting compute loads could let an additional 100 gigawatts of data centers connect to the grid.

Demand response is a decades-old concept: utilities pay large electricity users like factories to cut usage during peak demand, often by pausing production or switching to backup generators. Data centers already participate in such programs, usually by turning on diesel generators. Emerald AI‘s software instead coordinates utility requests with data centers, which can pause noncritical tasks or shift loads to other data centers where the grid has headroom. The direct utility-to-data-center connection lets data centers respond quickly, much like batteries.

Other players are working on similar technology. Google has been developing its own tools, and Enel X lets data centers tap uninterruptible power supplies to shave peaks in demand. A Goldman Sachs study published last year found that limiting maximum grid usage to 90% for a few hours at a time could free up 76 gigawatts of capacity. Emerald AI recently raised $150 million in a Series A led by Energize Capital and DCVC, giving it funding to roll out the technology more widely.

The coalition also aims to help tech companies and utilities find new sites for data centers. But Emerald AI chief scientist Ayse Coskun told TechCrunch that the technology promises to blunt the industry’s need for new generating sources, not eliminate it entirely.