[SMM Tin Newsflash: Companies Such as Google and Tesla Promoted the Use of Idle Power Grid Capacity to Lower Electricity Prices]
According to AXIOS, a new alliance formed by a group of companies including Google and Tesla will address energy affordability by making use of underutilized capacity on the power grid. As artificial intelligence data centers and other sources of demand drive electricity prices sharply higher, electricity affordability has become a central issue. The alliance, named Utilize, is expected to work with state lawmakers, regulators, utilities, and others to address electricity affordability by improving how the power grid operates, while also taking into account reliability of supply and the speed of construction. Alliance officials said they plan to soon release a study by Brattle Group showing that, through system improvements, US consumers could save as much as $180 billion over the next decade. Utilize’s members also include air-conditioning giant Carrier, deployment services company Sparkfund, power panel enterprise SPAN, and data center developer Verrus.