Source: Slashdot: Hardware
Google is directly monetizing demand destruction—paying residential and commercial consumers to shift their electricity consumption away from peak hours so the company can claim grid capacity for its data center buildout. This inverts the traditional utility model where consumers pay for power. The largest AI infrastructure player is essentially buying the right to consume more by subsidizing others' conservation. As compute-intensive companies compete for grid headroom in power-constrained regions, other major operators will likely adopt the same approach.