Meta Exits RE100 as AI Gas Plant Buildout Hits 7.5 GW
Meta leaves the RE100 clean energy pact after a decade, funding 7.5 GW of natural gas plants for AI data centers.
Meta Exits RE100 as AI Gas Plant Buildout Hits 7.5 GW
Meta has left the RE100 corporate renewable energy initiative after ten years of membership, confirming its departure at a moment when the company is funding at least a dozen natural gas power plants totaling 7.5 gigawatts of capacity—enough electricity to power the entire state of South Dakota . The exit, described by a Meta spokesperson as “mutual,” comes as the Climate Group—the U.K.-based nonprofit that coordinates RE100—recently tightened its reporting requirements for members . The timing makes the departure difficult to interpret as anything other than a direct consequence of Meta's accelerating reliance on fossil fuels. While the company continues to purchase renewable energy credits and says it remains “committed to matching its data center electricity usage with 100% clean and renewable energy,” the gap between that statement and its physical infrastructure is widening rapidly . What Happened Meta's natural gas buildout began in earnest in June 2024 with a 200-megawatt beh…
