---
title: "Demand response: what it means · The AI Compute Race · DRYBURGH"
source: https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/demand-response
description: "Demand response: A large customer's agreement to limit or shift part of its load when the grid calls, offered in return for a faster connection."
---

# Demand response

What does “Demand response” mean?

Demand responseA large customer’s agreement to limit or shift part of its load when the grid calls, offered in return for a faster connection. Curtailment is the same cut seen from the grid’s side. *Chapter 6.*

From *The AI Compute Race*. [Read the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#buy)

## Where the book uses it

- [Chapter 6 — Firm, Around-the-Clock](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes/chapter-6)Where the electricity comes from: grid queues, transformers, turbines and the firm power a datacenter needs every hour of the year, on calendars the buildout does not control.

## Also discussed in

- Dated test [Chapter 6, firm service is the constraint](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/tests#2028-12)

## Sources that use it

- Google, “Demand response data center milestone,” 19 March 2026 (“We’ve now integrated a total of 1 gigawatt (GW) of demand response capacity into our long-term energy contracts with multiple utilities across the U.S.”; the contracts named: Indiana Michigan Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority “last year”, then Entergy Arkansas, Minnesota Power and DTE Energy; “There are limits to how flexible a given data center can be, and this capability will only be available at certain locations”; the post’s text names no site and reports no megawatt called; the contracts “incorporate demand response as a key resource for new data centers to connect more rapidly to local grids”; the mechanism: “Google’s demand response capability allows us to limit or shift a portion of machine learning (ML) workloads running in our data centers”; “Demand response can be deployed quickly to bridge the gap between short-term load growth and the longer timelines required to build new clean generation and storage solutions”). [In the Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources/company#google-dr-1gw)

## Related terms

- [Curtailment](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/curtailment)
- [Backstop](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/backstop)
- [Batch Zero](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/batch-zero)
- [Behind the meter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/behind-the-meter)
- [Beignet](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/beignet)
- [Bridge power](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/bridge-power)
- [Capacity auction](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/capacity-auction)
- [Combined-cycle](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/combined-cycle)
- [Early-termination fee](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/early-termination-fee)
- [ERCOT](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/ercot)
- [Firm power](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/firm-power)
- [Generator step-up transformer](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/generator-step-up-transformer)

From the glossary of The AI Compute Race.

- [Campuses](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/ledger)
- [Tests](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/tests)
- [Scorecard](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard)
- [Data](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/data/releases)
- [Chapter by chapter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/companion)
- [The record at a glance](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/observatory)
- [The machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/machine)
- [One campus, four futures](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/hyperion)
- [Glossary](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary)
- [People](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/people)
- [Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources)
- [Notes](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes)
- [Where the book was wrong](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/corrections)
- [Where its sources were wrong](https://dryburgh.com/corrections?book=vol1)
- [The Paper](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/paper)
- [Consent](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/consent)
- [Who builds and pays](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/parties)

*The AI Compute Race: Five Races, One Machine* is a book by Lee S. Dryburgh, the first volume of THE COMPUTE ECONOMY, published by Dryburgh, an imprint of Contestra OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia; its record closes on 8 November 2026.

[About the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1)[Tell me when it is out](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#notify)