“Meta is backing 10 gas plants to power data centers – and just quit a global renewables pledge”
Michelle Lewis, writing at Electrek:
Meta says it still matches 100% of its annual electricity use with “clean and renewable energy” and has supported more than 30 GW of wind, solar, battery, nuclear, and geothermal projects. Entergy’s Louisiana package also includes Meta funding for up to 2.5 GW of renewables.
But that annual matching is a big fudge. Meta can buy renewable energy certificates or back clean energy elsewhere, but its data centers will be using fossil-fuel-generated electricity around the clock. Supporting new renewables on the grid and on paper doesn’t make those gas plants renewable, and they’ll run and cause harmful emissions for decades.
…
So Meta hasn’t abandoned renewables altogether; it’s just got its fingers crossed behind its back. It has abandoned the clean, unambiguous promise that put it in RE100: 100% renewable electricity. When AI growth and that pledge collided, the pledge was the goalpost that moved.
This is an extraordinary moment, to be sure. However, the article makes the great point that these plants will “run and cause harmful emissions for decades”, long after this challenging moment has passed. How you meet moments like this gives an indication whether your values are truly values, or just platitudes that result in light commitments, made and kept only when they are easy. It doesn’t surprise me at all that Meta’s were in that latter category. I’ll be really interested to see how Apple does with its commitments in this regard.
Meta is backing 10 gas plants to power data centers – and just quit a global renewables pledge
Meta quit a global renewable power pledge as it backs 10 gas plants to keep its power-hungry AI data centers running in Louisiana.