Meta leaves renewable electricity pledge amid data center power push

Meta has left RE100, a global pledge for companies to source all of their electricity from renewable sources, the company confirmed Friday. RE100 is run by the UK-based nonprofit Climate Group and has 444 members, including Apple, Google and Microsoft.

The Climate Group's website no longer lists Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, as a member. Recharge News, a renewable energy industry outlet, first reported the change. An archived version of RE100's website shows Meta joined the pledge in 2016.

The departure comes as large technology companies rapidly expand data centers. Meta has made agreements that pay utilities to bring new natural gas power plants online, including 10 plants to supply its Hyperion data center in Louisiana.

A Meta spokesperson told AFP that the company is continuing to increase investment in renewable energy and that leaving RE100 does not change its goal of matching its electricity use with 100 percent clean energy. Meta says on its website that it has met that goal on an annualized basis since 2020 through long-term power purchase agreements with renewable energy providers.

The Climate Group told Recharge News that this was no longer enough under RE100's rules. A Climate Group spokesperson told the outlet that, after several detailed discussions with Meta, the company withdrew because it was no longer able to meet the initiative's technical criteria due to investments in new gas power.

Natural gas is often described as a transition fuel between more polluting fossil fuels and renewable sources such as wind and solar. The report said natural gas has lower emissions than some fossil fuels, but drilling and extraction can leak methane, a powerful greenhouse gas and the main component of natural gas. Burning natural gas also produces air pollution, including nitric oxides, sulfur, mercury and particulates, while hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can contaminate groundwater supplies.

Other technology companies are also turning to natural gas for data center power. Microsoft signed a deal with Chevron last month to supply natural gas electricity to a data center in West Texas, and Google has been linked to similar partnerships in press reports.