Data centres that fail to comply with a federal government mandate to use green electricity sources could have their power switched off under strict new rules designed to limit their impact on the grid and avoid price spikes.
The new requirements, which Energy Minister Chris Bowen formally submitted to the grid rulemaker on Wednesday, would force data centres to source round-the-clock power from entirely new renewable sources located in the same state.
The data centre energy rules are part of the Albanese government’s broader intervention in the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence economy. The intervention also includes tweaks to copyright laws to protect creative industries and new safety rules for AI use.
According to detailed new rules proposed by Bowen, data centres that fail to meet the new green energy requirements would face financial penalties and directions to cut their power demand – known as “load shedding”.
“Financial penalties alone may not be an adequate disincentive for non-compliance and could be complemented by a ‘turn-down’ or load-shedding penalty,” the rule change request said.
“Under this approach, a non-compliant data centre could be required to reduce its demand until it demonstrates sufficient [power supply] as required by the obligation.”
The power shut-off could be enforced by the poles and wire network, the energy regulator or the Australian Energy Market Operator, the government said.
The government’s push to impose strict new rules on data centre energy use is pitched as a response to concerns about their potential effect on power prices and grid infrastructure, which has turned the growth of the sector into a major issue with voters.
AFR
