How to stop Network Telemetry charges when VPC Flow Logs have no active configurations?

Google Cloud Compute Infrastructure
1

Hi everyone,

I am facing an issue with persistent charges from the “Network Telemetry” SKU (SKU ID: D591-959F-0D6C), and I need some technical guidance to identify the root cause and stop these daily charges.

My project runs a single Compute Engine VM instance (Ubuntu 22.04). However, the Network Telemetry usage keeps accumulating. Billing Support confirmed it is a technical configuration issue but they lack backend visibility to pinpoint the exact source.

Here is the exact status of my project configurations that I have manually verified:

  • VPC Flow Logs: There are NO active configurations currently in effect for any of my subnets at the project, organization, or regional levels. (To clarify, no flow log configurations exist or are active at all; it’s not a case of being enabled and then paused).
  • Firewall Rules Logging: All firewall rules have logging explicitly disabled.
  • Cloud NAT: I have never configured or used Cloud NAT in this project.

Since a VM instance requires a VPC network to function, I expect standard data transfer charges, but I cannot figure out what is triggering the “Telemetry” aspect of the billing when no telemetry or flow log configurations are active in the console.

Could anyone advise:

  1. Is there any hidden default network telemetry/monitoring behavior enabled by Google Cloud when spinning up a standard VM?
  2. Where else in the GCP Console (e.g., Log Router sinks, advanced routing metrics) should I look to completely cut off this specific telemetry usage?

Any insights or troubleshooting directions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

4

I encountered the same issue, and I had AI help me investigate it, which led to your post. Let me share my guess: in my bill, this charge appeared at the same time as Cloud NAT Logging, and the amount is exactly the same. So I was wondering if I could turn off Cloud NAT Logging (you can search for “api and server” in the search bar at the top of the homepage, click to enter, and you will see it; once inside, you can choose to disable the API), but AI advised me not to do that.

5

Thanks for the insights! To verify this, I checked the Cloud NAT console page, but it only shows the initial setup wizard (no NAT gateways or resources are currently configured in this project).

While the Cloud NAT API itself might be enabled under “APIs & Services”, there are no active NAT instances processing traffic. Therefore, my specific issue with the Network Telemetry SKU might stem from another hidden log source or a different default VPC behavior rather than Cloud NAT logging.