推出电网守护者计划

今天，我们正式启动“电网守护者计划”，这是一项全国性行动，旨在为我们建设项目所在社区的家庭和企业提供价格合理、可靠的电力。我们将与公用事业公司、监管机构和政策制定者合作，为未来的园区制定方案，在电网承压时降低用电需求。Today we’re launching the Grid Protectors Program, a national effort to support affordable, reliable electricity for families and businesses in the communities where we build. Working with utilities, regulators and policymakers, we’ll develop arrangements for our future campuses to reduce electricity demand when the grid is under strain.

无论是在北方寒潮期间为家庭供暖，还是在南方热浪中运行空调，家庭都需要可靠的电力。我们的目标是让校园灵活性成为一种资源，在社区最需要的时候供电企业可以调用。Whether it’s heating homes during a northern cold snap or running air conditioning through a southern heat wave, families need reliable electricity. Our goal is to make campus flexibility a resource that utilities can call on when communities need it most.

预计到 2030 年，美国数据中心容量将超过 100 吉瓦（在新窗口中打开）。这是一个千载难逢的机遇：通过建设能够在社区最需要时调整用电量的数据中心园区，增强电网韧性。With U.S. data center capacity projected to exceed 100 gigawatts by 2030⁠(opens in a new window), we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen the electric grid by building campuses that can adjust their power use when communities need it most.

佐治亚州是我们的起点。通过 Grid Protectors，我们希望将这种灵活性打造为未来园区建设和运营方式的核心组成部分。这意味着，我们会设计能够在需要时减少用电量的设施，并与公用事业公司协商确定可减少多少用电需求、减量速度以及持续时间。具体安排会因地点而异，相关承诺敲定后，我们将分享更多信息。Georgia is our starting point. Through Grid Protectors, our ambition is to make this kind of flexibility a core part of how we build and operate future campuses. That means designing facilities to reduce electricity use when needed and working with utilities to agree on how much demand can be reduced, how quickly and for how long. The arrangements will differ by location, and we will share additional commitments as they are finalized.

根据当地需求和可用设备，我们还将与电网运营商合作，利用现场发电或储能设施供电，并通过电池和电力控制系统平抑需求变化。Depending on local needs and the equipment available, we will also work with grid operators to supply power from on-site generation or storage, and use batteries and power controls to smooth changes in demand.

无论需求高低，输电线路、变电站及其他电网基础设施的建设成本都是固定的。在电网有富余容量时多用电，在电网负荷紧张时减少用电，我们就能为这些基础设施分担成本，同时减少为满足用电峰值需求而进行昂贵升级的必要。这有助于降低其他用户的成本。Power lines, substations and other grid infrastructure builds are a fixed cost whether demand is low or high. By using more electricity when the grid has room and reducing our use when it is under strain, we can help pay for that infrastructure while limiting the need for costly upgrades to meet peak demand. That can help keep costs down for other customers.

美国需要更多电力来支持经济增长，而人工智能正成为这部分需求的重要组成。不能要求家庭和小企业为计算园区的用电需求提供补贴。我们始终坚持自行承担能源成本，包括自身用电成本以及为园区供电所需的基础设施成本。大型计算设施应自行承担相关成本，并帮助公用事业公司管理其所依赖的电力系统。America needs more electricity to support economic growth, and AI is becoming a significant part of that demand. Families and small businesses should not be asked to subsidize a compute campus’s electricity needs. We’ve always been committed to paying our own energy costs, including the electricity we use and the infrastructure needed to serve our campuses. Large computing facilities should pay their costs and help utilities manage the systems they depend on.

对于我们计划在埃芬厄姆县建设的园区，我们已承诺承担为该项目提供服务所需的全部基础设施和电力服务费用。园区投入运营后，在电力需求紧张时，我们可以减少用电，从而为其他客户保留更多电力。For our planned Effingham County campus, we have committed to pay the full infrastructure and electric-service costs required to serve the project. Once the campus is operating, we can reduce the power we draw during times of need, helping preserve electricity for other customers.

我们与佐治亚电力公司达成的协议还包括高达 1,000 兆瓦的灵活需求响应能力，可腾出电力，帮助数十万户家庭在极端高温期间维持空调运行（按平均用电量计算，约为 70 万户家庭）。作为参考，这相当于约 70 万户家庭的平均用电需求。这个数量超过华盛顿特区和波士顿的家庭总数。Our agreement with Georgia Power also includes⁠(opens in a new window) up to 1,000 megawatts of flexible demand response, freeing up power to help keep air conditioning running in hundreds of thousands of homes (~700 000 households at average electricity usage) during extreme heat. For scale, that is equivalent to the average electricity demand of roughly 700,000 households. That’s more households than Washington, D.C., and Boston combined.

这些计算设施与几年前建造的数据中心大不相同，使我们能够灵活调整电力需求。These compute facilities are much different than data centers built even a few years ago, allowing us to be flexible in our power demand.

这意味着我们可以降低自身的用电需求，从而确保家庭、小企业和其他电力用户继续获得电力供应。建设电网资产成本高昂，Georgia Power 表示，这种灵活性可以减少为满足未来增长需求而必须新建的发电设施。虽然该园区仍在开发中，但我们计划让 Effingham 成为 Grid Protectors 项目的试点，并以现有协议为基础——该协议已为未来园区提供了范例。This means we can turn down our demand so that families, small businesses, and other ratepayers will continue to have power. Building grid assets is expensive and Georgia Power says this flexibility can reduce the amount of new generation it needs to build to serve future growth. Although the campus is still in development, we intend for Effingham to serve as a pilot for Grid Protectors, building on an agreement that already provides a model for future campuses.

想象一家开在度假小镇的餐厅。旺季时，它需要足够多的餐桌和厨房空间，但全年都得为这些产能买单。常客能让这些资源持续得到利用，并在旅游业淡季时帮忙支付账单。我们提议成为这样的常客。Imagine a restaurant in a vacation town. It needs enough tables and kitchen space for the busy season, but it has to pay for that capacity year-round. Regular customers help keep it in use and cover the bills when tourism slows. We are proposing to be that regular customer.

电力需求也会随季节起伏，不同地区的用电峰值出现在不同时间。我们的算力园区全年都需要电力。通过恰当的协议，这种稳定的需求有助于将电网固定成本分摊到更多电力销售中；同时，灵活性让我们能够在电力系统最繁忙时减少用电需求。我们仍需承担园区带来的成本；我们的目标是让其他客户也能从中受益。Electricity demand also rises and falls with the seasons, with different regions facing their biggest peaks at different times. Our compute campuses need power year-round. With the right agreements, that steady demand can help spread the grid’s fixed costs across more electricity sales, while flexibility lets us reduce demand when the system is busiest. We still need to pay the costs our campuses create; the goal is for other customers to benefit, too.

我们的协议也有助于推进 Georgia Power 降低客户成本的整体计划。该公用事业公司预计，从 2029 年起，其大负荷协议组合及预期增长（包括 Project Camellia）每年可为客户节省约 9.5 亿美元（在新窗口中打开）。据估算，对于每月用电量为 1,000 千瓦时的普通居民客户，这意味着每月至少可节省 15 美元。Our agreement also contributes to Georgia Power’s broader plan to lower costs for customers. The utility projects approximately $950 million in annual customer savings beginning in 2029⁠(opens in a new window) from its portfolio of large-load agreements and expected growth, including Project Camellia. It estimates a benefit of at least $15 a month for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours.

佐治亚州协议是一个起点。在 OpenAI，我们通过「电网守护者」计划，看到了帮助社区在紧急情况和用电需求高峰期间维持供电的机会。我们将与公用事业公司、监管机构和政策制定者合作，为未来建设的园区制定切实可行的安排——这些安排将考虑当地电网的需求，帮助园区在电网承压时为其提供支持，并由我们承担自身造成的成本。长期合同和财务保障措施可以在项目延期、缩减或取消时保护其他用户。The Georgia agreement is a starting point. At OpenAI, through our Grid Protectors program, we see an opportunity to help communities keep the lights on even in times of emergency and high demand. We will work with utilities, regulators and policymakers to develop practical arrangements for the campuses we build in the future-arrangements that reflect local grid needs, help campuses support the grid when it is under pressure, and pay the costs we create. Long-term contracts and financial assurances can protect other customers if a project is delayed, reduced or canceled.

灵活性无法取代对新能源供应和输电的投资。在这些投资之外，我们的“电网守护者”计划有助于提升电网可靠性，并保护家庭和小型企业免于承担人工智能基础设施的成本。这正是我们希望计算园区达到的标准。Flexibility cannot replace investment in new energy supply and transmission. Alongside those investments, our Grid Protectors program can help make the grid more reliable and protect families and small businesses from bearing the costs of AI infrastructure. That is the standard we want our compute campuses to meet.