The Information's TITV
00:41:18 · Amanda Peterson Corio
[00:41:18] S7: Yeah. I think we're looking at, a lot of interesting deal structures. We think about, it's a... I've often said it's an all of the above solution. There's not one solution that makes sense or doesn't make sense. So some of those structures may look like, again, building a microgrid closer to the data center. So having, solar, wind, storage, grid connected assets, or geothermal, that has a more around the clock profile, that's that's one asset. And then thinking over time, how do we better integrate the full stack through our data centers to the power supply to optimize that more firmly? Other structures we're looking at, do look more like these virtual power plants where it's like, how can we actually still connect to the grid but actually give distributed batteries to the communities around us or put solar on roofs to help them reduce their energy burden to continue to, have affordable power, but also is a better system and grid resource on the grid. We've also built a lot of structures with our utility partners. So in a lot of states in The US, you can't just go build a power plant next to your data center. You actually have to work, through your regulated utility to buy power. And one of the challenges that that they're having is just the scale and the speed and the and the amount of capital required to meet our demands. So we're innovating with them to say, how can we, commit to today to pay, upfront and commit to paying over fifteen, twenty years, whatever the term is, no matter what. We may not draw an electron from the grid, but we will commit to paying the capital today to make sure the infrastructure is there in the system to be able to service. And that may sound obvious now, but it's a structure that wasn't in place before. And now through our work, working with these utility and the grids have figured out how to get that approved in over nine states in The US, and that's continuing to grow.
00:43:11 · Stephanie Palazzolo
[00:43:11] S0: Mhmm. And, you know, you mentioned geothermal, solar. I know that you recently, you know, announced this major nuclear agreement with Constellation. Talk to me about how Google's thinking about that, you know, source of energy moving moving forward.
00:43:25 · Amanda Peterson Corio
[00:43:25] S7: Yeah. I think, we continue to be committed to decarbonizing our electricity footprint. And there are just not enough technologies at scale, that can provide power in every hour of the day. So you see us showing up in a lot of places to help plant the seeds now to make sure that that power can grow and scale over time. You mentioned Constellation. We partnered with Constellation because they have a number of nuclear plants across their footprint in what's called PJM, is the largest power grid on the Eastern Seaboard. And by working with them to invest the capital, they can actually build and invest in their nuclear plants to get greater efficiency, something called up rates. And these up rates across the system allows us to get clean, firm power, in, again, a distributed way, which really helps the backbone of the system in the grid. We also are investing in the technologies that are not yet operating today. So whether that's Kairos, which is a small modular reactor, or Fervo, we started partnering them back in 2021 with a small little demo project. Now we're doing larger and larger projects. And these are technologies in the case of Fervo. Geothermal has been around for a long time, and we actually have the workforce, in the oil and gas industry who had... Knows how to do this this drilling to be able to access geothermal. So leveraging that and using these advanced drilling techniques, we can actually build a lot more clean geothermal in places across The US, that will come online at the end of this decade or beginning of next decade to bring a more diverse and more options, for power supply to the space.
00:45:04 · Stephanie Palazzolo
[00:45:04] S0: And, you know, we we did talk a bit about some things that Google can can do to make sure that, we don't see this huge spike in electricity prices by, know, paying homes and businesses, for instance, to stop using power during peak peak times. But I think there very much is still this concern from consumers and just everyday people that they're gonna see electricity prices spike as there's just so much demand on the grid. I mean, how do you kind of respond to those concerns? And how worried do people need to be that they might see their prices go up in the upcoming years?
00:45:35 · Amanda Peterson Corio, Brittany Greenfield
[00:45:35] S7: I think this... To be completely clear, first of all, Google always pays a 100% of our energy bills for for what we consume. What we're working really hard is to make sure people know that we are committed to bringing our... What we call bring our own generation. And what's really important is bring our own new generation. So it's not just contracting with the grid for power, but ensuring that we're constantly adding new power to the grid, which will be... Help the supply demand, match and and not increase power prices. We've brought over 35 gigawatts of new generation since operation. This is something that we have always done, but are committed to continuing to do it... Doing it so that, affordability is is first or foremost, and, AI and the the increase of AI should never be a question of of putting cost on others. We should always pay for it. These are things like our models where we ensure we are committing to paying upfront, paying our electricity the right way, and bringing our own generation is the way that we're going to ensure power remains affordable. But it's important to know that, you are seeing energy costs go up, independent of AI, and that's because we have an aging infrastructure in grid. Over, 25% of our grid is over, is is is, aging out of its useful life, and that infrastructure needs to be built, built up and more robust. Costs are higher. Inflation is a real thing. And so it's actually serendipitous that you're having all of these companies invest in the grid right at the time that it needs it. [00:47:09] S4: Mhmm.
00:47:09 · Brittany Greenfield, Stephanie Palazzolo, Amanda Peterson Corio, Lori Goler
[00:47:09] S4: Mhmm. [00:47:10] S0: I think to your point, though, you know, a lot of... There's a lot of misinformation or just lack of information out there about what is going on with these data centers. And I think a lot of people, if they see the prices going up, even if part of it is what you're saying, just the fact that the infrastructure is is aging and it needs to be, you know, replaced or revamped in some way. They're they're gonna kind of just associate that with the data centers. And I think you yourself have have said that data centers are becoming, you know, politically unpopular on both the left and and the right. I mean, are you afraid at all that public opposition to data centers is going to become a bigger obstacle to them getting built than even technological limits? [00:47:48] S7: Public opposition is a real challenge. And what we have learned and what we know is, you can read about things in the news. You can hear things, but your own lived experience is is going to override anything that you read and hear in the news. And so for us, it's really, really important that when we show up to local communities, that we get the facts straight, that we listen, that we answer questions, and that they really understand what they're getting and the investment they're getting when they get a Google data center in their town. [00:48:20] S6: Mhmm. [00:48:20] S0: Have there been cases where you... Maybe you wanna build a data center in a town and it just it just doesn't happen because there's just so much pushback?