Meta exits RE100 clean energy pact amid natural gas expansion
Original: Meta drops out of a major clean energy pact as its natural gas buildout accelerates
Why This Matters
Meta's exit highlights the widening gap between Big Tech's clean energy pledges and its actual energy sourcing as AI demand surges.
Meta has quietly left RE100, a corporate renewable energy initiative it had joined for a decade, as the company accelerates funding for natural gas power plants to power its AI data centers. The departure was confirmed by Meta to TechCrunch on July 23, 2026.
Meta has exited RE100, a global corporate renewable energy initiative run by the Climate Group — a UK nonprofit co-founded by former Prime Minister Tony Blair — after roughly a decade of membership. The departure was described as mutual by a Meta spokesperson. Apple, Google, and Microsoft remain among the group's 444 members.
The exit comes as Meta has dramatically scaled up investment in natural gas infrastructure. Over the past year, the company funded at least a dozen natural gas power plants, including 10 facilities tied to its Hyperion data center project in Louisiana with a combined capacity of 7.5 gigawatts — enough to power the entire state of South Dakota. An additional 200-megawatt behind-the-meter gas plant in Ohio was announced in June 2025.
Despite the buildout, Meta told TechCrunch it remains committed to matching its electricity usage "with 100% clean and renewable energy," a claim it can technically maintain by purchasing environmental attribute certificates linked to renewable projects elsewhere. The Climate Group recently tightened its reporting requirements for members, which may have contributed to the split. Meta declined to give specific reasons for leaving.