--- title: "How data centers can better manage energy use" url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-data-centers-can-better-manage-energy-use-f5ecacvnm source_url: https://news.mit.edu/2026/how-data-centers-can-better-manage-energy-use-0626 type: article source: "MIT News" published: 2026-06-26T15:10:46.098Z updated: 2026-06-26T15:11:07.791Z tags: ["ai"] reading_time: 7 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How data centers can better manage energy use **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An MIT study published in iScience finds that data centers could lower U.S. energy costs by 2–7% if they shift more than 20% of their consumption to non-peak hours. Using the Gen X power grid model across Texas, the Mid-Atlantic, and western U.S. regions — which together host ~82% of U.S. data centers — researchers found flexible scheduling spreads fixed grid costs over higher average usage. However, environmental outcomes vary by region: Texas, with 54% wind power, could see 40% fewer CO2 emissions under flexible data center use, while the Mid-Atlantic could see a 3% increase as flexible scheduling inadvertently supports coal plants. The study also distinguishes between AI training workloads (more flexible) and inference workloads (demand-driven). Researchers suggest a 'connect and manage' policy — offering faster grid hookups in exchange for time-of-use flexibility — as a practical regulatory lever to incentivize adoption. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Data centers expected to use 4x more electricity by 2035](https://daily.dev/posts/data-centers-expected-to-use-4x-more-electricity-by-2035-j2q6reqsj) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-data-centers-can-better-manage-energy-use-f5ecacvnm)