OpenAI周一表示，该公司已启动一项全国性计划，旨在让其未来的数据中心在当地电网承压时削减用电量。
OpenAI launched the Grid Protectors Program, promising that its future campuses will cut electricity use when grids are under strain. Its planned Georgia campus is the pilot, with up to 1,000MW of flexible demand.
根据“电网守护者计划”，OpenAI将与公用事业公司商定每个园区可放弃的电力量、响应速度以及持续时长。部分园区还可能通过现场发电机或电池向电网供电。具体条款将因地点而异。
No other sites have been named. OpenAI has launched a national programme to make its future data centres cut their power use when local grids are under strain, the company said on Monday. Under the Grid Protectors Program, OpenAI will agree with utilities how much power each campus can give up, how quickly and for how long.
OpenAI写道：“家庭和小企业不应被要求补贴算力园区的用电需求。”
Some sites may also feed the grid from on-site generators or batteries. The terms will vary by location.
试点项目是OpenAI计划在佐治亚州埃芬汉姆县建设的3.2吉瓦园区。根据一项于8月获批的25年协议，佐治亚电力公司可在用电高峰时段从该园区削减高达1000兆瓦的用电量。OpenAI称，这大约相当于70万户家庭的平均用电需求。
“Families and small businesses should not be asked to subsidize a compute campus’s electricity needs,” OpenAI wrote. The pilot is OpenAI’s planned 3.2GW campus in Effingham County, Georgia. Under a 25-year deal, approved in August, Georgia Power can cut up to 1,000MW from the site at busy times. That is about the average demand of 700,000 homes, OpenAI says.
OpenAI还将承担该园区所需输电线路和服务的全部费用。佐治亚电力公司表示，这种灵活性意味着它可以少建设一些新发电设施。该公司预计，与OpenAI等大用户达成的协议将从2029年起每年为客户节省约9.5亿美元。
OpenAI will also pay the full cost of the power lines and service the campus needs. Georgia Power says the flexibility means it can build less new generation. It expects deals with large users like OpenAI to save customers about $950M a year from 2029.
此举正值美国各地因电费上涨引发愤怒、导致数据中心项目停滞之际。国会曾权衡让大用户承担电网升级费用，白宫也要求建设方签署自愿承诺以覆盖自身电力成本。谷歌和英伟达已组建自己的联盟，推动数据中心灵活调节用电。
The move comes as anger over rising power bills stalls data centre projects across the US. Congress has weighed making big users pay for grid upgrades, and the White House has asked builders to sign a voluntary pledge to cover their own power costs. Google and Nvidia have formed an alliance of their own to make data centres flex their power.
OpenAI承认，灵活用电无法替代新建电厂和输电线路。该公司尚未公布其他试点地点。
OpenAI admits flexibility cannot replace new power plants and power lines. It has not named any other sites.