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Phys.org — Technology · September 17, 2026 · On the brief until October 1, 2026

'Relax-and-round' method could help grids manage data center power demand

Electrical EngineeringOperationsEnvironmental Science
THE AI ANGLE
Driving unprecedented growth in electricity demand

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a 'relax-and-round' optimization solver that accelerates unit commitment decisions for power grids managing surging electricity demands from AI data centers. By converting discrete generator choices into continuous-variable problems and rounding the outputs, the approach slashed computation times from 10 hours to less than one second on a 276-generator system. This computational breakthrough enables operators to efficiently integrate and schedule tens of thousands of flexible, on-site generating assets while maintaining grid reliability and cost-effectiveness.

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THE TEACHING ANGLE
Faculty can use this study to examine the operational and environmental tensions between relying on traditional integer programming versus problem-specific relaxation heuristics when scheduling distributed fossil and grid resources under rapid load growth.

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