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Emerald AI has formed the AI Energy Management Alliance (AEMA) with Google and Nvidia to promote flexible electricity use by data centers. Anthropic and utilities including AES, Constellation, National Grid and NRG Energy have also joined the coalition, TechCrunch reported on September 17, 2026.
Shifting Compute Away From Peaks
The alliance plans to make demand response part of data center development. Under this approach, operators would temporarily pause noncritical work or move compute loads to facilities where the local grid has spare capacity, reducing consumption when electricity demand is highest.
AEMA estimates that this flexibility could enable another 100 gigawatts of data centers to connect to the grid. That figure is the coalition's projection, not a measured result from a completed deployment.
A Software Link to Utilities
Demand response has long allowed factories and other large electricity users to receive payments for reducing consumption during peak periods. Data centers can participate too, but they commonly rely on backup generators. Emerald AI proposes coordinating utility requests directly with data centers through software, avoiding dependence on diesel generation while allowing compute demand to ramp down quickly.
The concept is not exclusive to Emerald AI. Google has developed its own load-management tools, while Enel X allows data centers to use uninterruptible power supplies to reduce peaks. A Goldman Sachs study published last year estimated that limiting maximum grid use to 90% for several hours at a time could release 76 gigawatts of capacity.
Expansion Backed by Series A
Emerald AI recently raised $150 million in a Series A led by Energize Capital and DCVC. According to TechCrunch, that funding gives the startup resources to deploy its technology more broadly. AEMA also intends to help technology companies and utilities identify potential data center sites with viable grid access.
Generation Still Required
Flexible computing cannot remove every power constraint. Emerald AI chief scientist Ayse Coskun told TechCrunch that the company's technology could reduce the data center industry's need for additional generating sources, but would not eliminate that need. The alliance's capacity projections therefore depend on operational changes and available grid headroom rather than replacing investment in electricity generation.
Source: Google, Nvidia and Anthropic want Emerald AI to find space on the grid for more data centers
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