OpenAI says it will reduce electricity use at the US data center campuses it develops directly when extreme weather or other emergencies strain the power grid, Axios reports. It calls the plan the Grid Protectors Program.

OpenAI will agree with utilities on how much power each campus can give up, how quickly and for how long, The Next Web reports. The terms will vary by campus, Axios and The Next Web report. No other sites have been named, The Next Web says.

The model is OpenAI's planned 3.2-gigawatt campus in Effingham County, Georgia, The Next Web reports. Under a 25-year deal approved in August, Georgia Power can cut up to 1,000 megawatts from the site at busy times, it says. That is about the demand of 700,000 homes, OpenAI says, according to The Next Web.

Georgia Power says the flexibility means it can build less new generation, The Next Web reports. The utility expects deals with large users like OpenAI to save customers about $950 million a year from 2029, The Next Web says.

"Families and small businesses should not be asked to subsidize a compute campus's electricity needs," OpenAI wrote, according to The Next Web.

John McCarrick, OpenAI's head of energy policy, said the plan reflects a shift in industry thinking, Axios reports. A year ago, he said, one of the other large hyperscalers was still defending "the five nines," the idea that data centers must be running 99.999% of the time. "I don't think anybody's doing that now," he said, according to Axios.

The plan comes as anger over rising power bills stalls data center projects across the US, The Next Web reports. OpenAI admits that flexible demand cannot replace new power plants and power lines, The Next Web says.

What we know: OpenAI says its future US campuses will cut power use when the grid needs relief, starting with Georgia.
What we don't: Which other campuses will join, and how much power each will give up.