Nvidia, Microsoft, and AWS join utilities firms to launch an AI power grid consortium

At NVIDIA’s developer conference on Thursday, a large group of energy companies—along with a few technology companies—announced plans to collaborate on building AI models and apps aimed at improving the generation and distribution of electric power. 

The initiative, called the Open Power AI Consortium, is organized by the Palo Alto-based Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Founding members include Nvidia, Microsoft, AWS, and Oracle. Notably absent from the group are all of the leading developers of frontier AI models such as Anthropic, Google, or OpenAI. 

“This is about getting the right data, and getting it clean, so that it can be used for AI,” Jeremy Renshaw, who leads the consortium at EPRI, tells Fast Company. Renshaw says energy companies have mountains of data, but organizing it in a way that AI models can process is key. 

But already, over two dozen regional power companies in the U.S. have signed on, including Con Edison, Duke Energy, New York Power Authority, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, Tennessee Valley Authority, and Westinghouse Electric Company.

EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor said in a statement that the consortium will create an AI model, datasets, and apps to “enhance grid reliability, optimize asset performance, and enable more efficient energy management.” It will also foster a collaborative environment where utilities, startups, academics, and national labs can work together to address power sector challenges using AI.

The consortium doesn’t include representatives from government agencies, but Renshaw said he’d like to see their inclusion. “We intend to include anyone involved in the making and moving of electricity,” he says. “Government is important because they do the permitting, licensing, and they provide regulations.”

The announcement comes amid growing concern in the tech sector over the strain that AI workloads can place on data centers. (Google even pledged last year to buy energy from small modular reactors developed by Kairos Power to support its growing AI ambitions.)

Axios climate reporter Alex Freedman notes that the power demands of the so-called AI boom have become a top priority for energy company CEOs in the U.S. Freedman highlights an ongoing debate within that sector over whether the power demands of AI will prolong the use of fossil fuels. Should that prove to be the case, AI could further push back constructive work toward climate goals.

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