Who is Amanda Peterson Corio? Google Energy Chief explains how AI data centres could help strengthen power grids

Google's rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is creating a pressing question for the energy industry: how can data centres secure more electricity without placing additional strain on power grids? Amanda Peterson Corio, the company's global head of data centre energy, is working on an approach that could turn some of these energy-hungry facilities into more flexible participants in the electricity system.

Rather than treating data centres solely as consumers of power, Google is exploring how their electricity use can be adjusted to help utilities manage periods of high demand.

Who is Amanda Peterson Corio?

Peterson Corio oversees energy procurement, policy and infrastructure development for Google's global data centres.

She has more than 20 years of experience in energy project finance, development and power procurement, according to the US Department of Energy.She joined Google more than a decade ago, when its energy team was much smaller. The rapid growth of AI has since changed the scale of the challenge, requiring substantially more electricity and closer coordination with utilities.In the interview, she said Google had moved towards treating utilities as partners rather than merely power suppliers, with an emphasis on planning infrastructure for decades rather than meeting only immediate demand.How AI data centres could help the GridOne of Google's key approaches is demand response, which allows data centres to reduce or shift some electricity consumption when the grid comes under pressure.Not every computing task needs to happen immediately. Google can postpone selected machine-learning workloads or move them to another location, reducing demand at a particular site without disrupting essential services.The company announced agreements with Indiana Michigan Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority in August 2025 to apply this approach to machine-learning workloads. In March 2026, Google said it had signed agreements covering one gigawatt of demand-response capacity with utility partners across the United States.Why Google is funding new power

Flexibility alone will not meet AI's electricity needs. Google is also working with utilities to bring new generation and storage online while covering infrastructure costs associated with its data centres.

In Minnesota, its agreement with Xcel Energy includes 1,400 megawatts of wind, 200 megawatts of solar and 300 megawatts of long-duration battery storage. Google has also committed to covering new grid infrastructure costs associated with the project.

Peterson Corio told the interviewer that such arrangements could protect households from paying for infrastructure built to serve large technology companies.

The challenge ahead

The approach has limits. Some computing workloads cannot be delayed, and demand response is not available at every site. New generation and transmission infrastructure will remain essential as electricity demand grows.

For Google, the challenge is to expand AI while keeping power reliable and affordable. Peterson Corio's argument is that, with the right planning and investment, data centres can help modernise the grid they increasingly depend on.