Ballooning electricity demand from AI data centers in the US is pushing companies and regulators to consider unorthodox — and aggressive — solutions.

Federal officials have suggested breaking up the country’s largest electric grid operator over rising power bills and its failure to keep pace with demand; one regulator said she has “great appetite for aggression” when such challenges endanger the US’ lead in the AI race.

In Big Tech’s latest move to power data centers, Google this week struck a first-of-its-kind deal with a “virtual power plant” startup, in which Google will finance a program for parts of the country’s grid that will pay households and businesses to curb their consumption at certain times, freeing up 100 megawatts of power.