Meta Exits RE100 as It Accelerates Natural Gas Expansion to Meet AI Needs

Meta has withdrawn from RE100, one of the world’s leading corporate renewable electricity initiatives, after a decade of membership.

This comes as the tech giant accelerates investments in natural gas to power its rapidly expanding artificial intelligence data centres. The move underscores the growing dilemma between AI’s soaring electricity demand and Big Tech’s clean energy commitments.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the company’s departure from RE100 was mutual. The initiative, led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, helps companies transition to 100% renewable electricity and currently counts more than 440 members, including Apple, Google and Microsoft.

Although Meta declined to explain why it left the initiative, Impact Newswire understands that the decision follows months of aggressive investment in natural gas infrastructure. Over the past year, the company has backed the construction of at least a dozen gas-fired power plants to support its growing AI operations, making it one of the technology industry’s biggest investors in fossil fuel-powered electricity.

Last year, Meta announced a 200-megawatt behind-the-meter natural gas plant in Ohio to power one of its data centres. It later unveiled plans for three large gas-fired plants in Louisiana to supply electricity to its Hyperion AI campus before adding funding for seven more facilities. Together, the 10 Louisiana plants will generate 7.5 gigawatts of electricity, enough to match or exceed the power consumption of the entire state of South Dakota.

Meta insists it remains committed to matching the electricity consumed by its data centres with 100% clean and renewable energy. However, the company continues to rely on renewable energy certificates and other environmental attributes that allow it to offset electricity consumption from fossil fuel-powered facilities by purchasing renewable generation elsewhere.

The timing of Meta’s departure is significant because RE100 recently strengthened its reporting requirements, requiring members to provide more rigorous evidence of progress toward their renewable electricity commitments. Meta had previously pledged through the initiative to run all of its operations on renewable electricity by 2020.

The company’s strategy reflects a broader shift across the technology sector as AI dramatically increases electricity demand. While companies continue investing heavily in renewable energy, many are also turning to natural gas and nuclear power to secure reliable, around-the-clock electricity for increasingly power-hungry AI infrastructure.

Environmental groups argue that expanding natural gas capacity risks slowing corporate decarbonisation efforts because gas-fired plants continue to emit carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Supporters counter that fossil fuels remain necessary until renewable energy, battery storage and electricity grids can consistently supply the uninterrupted power required by hyperscale AI data centres.

Meta’s exit from RE100 highlights how the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is reshaping corporate energy strategies. As AI infrastructure grows, technology companies are increasingly balancing ambitious climate goals against the immediate need for reliable electricity, even if that means greater reliance on fossil fuels in the short term.

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