Meta drops out of major clean energy pact as its natural gas buildout accelerates

Meta confirmed to TechCrunch that it is no longer part of RE100, a global corporate renewable energy initiative. The departure was mutual, according to a Meta spokesperson. The exit comes as Meta has funded at least a dozen natural gas power plants over the past year, including one project that alone will generate as much electricity as the entire state of South Dakota uses.

Meta's move into natural gas began in June last year with a 200-megawatt behind-the-meter gas plant in Ohio to power a data center. Two months later, the company announced three large natural gas plants in Louisiana for its Hyperion data center. In April, it added seven more for the same project. Together, these ten plants will produce 7.5 gigawatts, enough to power South Dakota and more.

Despite the buildout, a Meta spokesperson reiterated the company's commitment to matching its data center electricity use with 100% clean and renewable energy. This is possible through environmental attribute certificates, allowing Meta to invest in renewable projects elsewhere to offset fossil fuel use. However, this annual matching approach is less rigorous than the hourly matching that Microsoft and Google have adopted.

Natural gas burns cleaner than coal but still emits significant pollutants: a 1-gigawatt data center running on gas releases 438 metric tons of nitrogen oxides, 149 metric tons of fine particulate matter, 61 metric tons of sulfur oxides, and 298 metric tons of carbon monoxide annually. These pollutants contribute to asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.

Meta is not alone—Google and Microsoft have also invested in large fossil fuel projects recently—but Meta has made the largest bet. Withdrawal from a voluntary industry group is not always major news, but the timing, amid Meta's fossil-fuel expansion, makes the change hard to ignore.