As large, gigawatt-scale data centers stall in multiyear interconnection queues and local opposition reaches a fever pitch, a wave of companies are testing out a different strategy: bringing computing to locations where underutilized capacity already exists. That includes homes, office basements, electric vehicle charging stations, and solar and wind farms that often curtail power in the middle of the day when demand is low.
This emerging market is aimed at serving AI inference, which involves the day-to-day use of chatbots or self-driving cars. More than a dozen companies have made announcements just this year, including Sunrun and Span that are putting small servers in homes with solar and storage. Meanwhile, Perimeter Compute is renting out space in commercial office buildings and Rune is plugging directly into utility-scale renewable projects behind the meter.
In this live Latitude Dispatch, senior reporter Catherine Boudreau will interview Katie Clasen of Prelude Ventures about the economics of tapping stranded power, the potential speed-to-market advantages, and the potential impacts on the grid.
We’ll discuss:
- What edge computing businesses are most likely to scale and why
- Whether it can help avoid building new data centers and energy infrastructure
- The potential impact on grid congestion
- How much extra headroom the grid really has, especially if compute runs 24/7
- How utilities can plan for this
Bring your questions or submit them ahead of time to editors@latitudemedia.com.
Can’t attend live? Register to receive a recording of the Dispatch.
Who should attend
- Energy transition investors and project financiers
- Data center developers, AI labs, and hyperscale infrastructure teams
- DER providers
- Utility executives and grid planners
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