Overview
- Late July reports confirmed Meta has withdrawn from the RE100 corporate renewables initiative after Recharge News said the company no longer met the group's technical criteria.
- Meta is financing roughly 7.5 gigawatts of combined-cycle gas capacity in Louisiana and a 200-megawatt behind-the-meter gas project in Ohio to supply its hyperscale data centers.
- The company says it will continue to match 100% of its annual electricity use through renewable purchases and has supported about 30 gigawatts of wind, solar, battery, nuclear, and geothermal projects.
- The shift reflects a wider industry trade-off: the IEA expects natural gas and coal to meet over 40% of additional data-center electricity demand to 2030, and other Big Tech firms have struck fossil-backed power deals while remaining RE100 members.
- Experts warn these gas projects could lock in decades of fossil generation, raising local emissions and climate risks and making future grid upgrades, battery storage, or hourly renewable matching the key things to watch next.