Want to get a data center online quickly? Give it some flex.

As the data-center boom puts pressure on the grid, some companies argue that software can dial down power usage when demand spikes. At the end of a tense soccer match, millions in Britain made tea, causing a sudden increase in electricity demand. National Grid was ready; AI sent instructions to a London data center to slow down its chips, ensuring supply matched demand.

But this was just a simulation. In December 2025, engineers tested Emerald AI's Conductor software in Virginia, billed as one of the world’s first ‘power-flexible AI factories.’ When overall demand spikes, Conductor will turn down power used by data centers while ensuring critical tasks are completed.

Speed is only part of the issue. Once facilities do plug in, neighbors often criticize them for electricity use and pollution. More than a dozen states are considering bans on new data centers, and local moratoriums are in effect. The GRID Act proposes to sever new data centers from public grids entirely. Companies could find part of the solution right under our noses—in existing transmission lines.

A 2025 report found that the US grid could offer an additional 76 gigawatts to facilities willing to reduce usage just 0.25% of the time, about 22 hours a year. By flexing power, data centers can address PR problems and help avoid new fossil-fuel plants.