Over the past year, Meta has left RE100 global initiative, after a decade and expanded gas projects in Ohio and Louisiana, showing how corporate renewable energy procurement is changing as AI data centers demand reliable electricity every hour of the day.
The decision exposes a technology industry conflict. AI needs constant power, while renewable sources often require batteries or backup systems.
AI Expansion Pushes Meta Toward Gas
RE100, run by the UK-based Climate Group, helps companies adopt renewable electricity. Meta called its departure mutual, while major rivals remain members.
The group strengthened reporting rules, increasing scrutiny of Meta net zero public pledges and the evidence companies provide.
Meta previously said RE100 would run its entire operations on renewable electricity by 2020. Its exit raises questions about how corporate renewable energy procurement is measured.
Meta announced a 200-megawatt Ohio gas plant in June 2025. Located behind the meter, it will directly power a company data center.
Two months later, Meta revealed three Louisiana gas plants for Hyperion. In April 2026, it added seven more, lifting capacity to 7.5 gigawatts.
The buildout could increase data center carbon emissions, although natural gas creates less carbon pollution than coal and can supply electricity whenever AI servers need it.
The company says Meta renewable energy remains central, but rising demand will require more storage, grid upgrades, and round-the-clock cleaning generation. The project also pressures Meta net zero goals, because AI chips and cooling systems consume large amounts of electricity continuously.
Certificates Keep Renewable Claims Alive
Meta told TechCrunch it remains committed to matching data center electricity use with 100% clean and renewable energy. That promise relies on corporate renewable energy procurement tools, including environmental certificates.
These certificates allow Meta to finance a solar project in one place while consuming gas-generated electricity elsewhere. Through yearly accounting, Meta renewable energy can still appear fully matched.
Annual matching, however, does not show what powers a facility at a specific hour. A data center may use gas overnight while daytime solar production is counted later.
A one-gigawatt gas-powered facility running continuously can release large amounts of harmful pollution, adding concern over every data center carbon emission produced near AI hubs.
Meta’s gas expansion has drawn attention to Meta renewable energy initiatives and whether they can grow fast enough to balance new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Microsoft is moving toward hourly matching, while Google has backed up renewable projects paired with batteries. These methods connect cleaning generation with real-time data center use.
That approach could lower data center carbon emissions by reducing reliance on yearly offsets and encouraging investment in storage and cleaner supplies. Meta is not the only technology company using gas, but its investment is the largest.
The move has deepened debate over big tech climate change responsibilities.
For Meta, corporate renewable energy procurement must go beyond yearly clean-power purchases by proving when and where that electricity is produced. Leaving RE100 does not end Meta renewable energy, but it makes the divide between public climate language and physical energy infrastructure harder to overlook.
As AI demand rises, Meta net zero public pledges will face attention from regulators, investors, and communities near the plants. The central issue is whether corporate renewable energy procurement can develop fast enough to support AI without locking the technology sector into decades of fossil fuel use.
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