Meta has left RE100, a voluntary corporate renewable-electricity initiative, as its growing AI data-centre operations increasingly depend on new natural-gas generation. The departure highlights the tension between Big Tech’s clean-energy pledges and the large, immediate power demands created by expanding AI infrastructure.

Meta joined RE100 in 2016 and aimed to meet its renewable-energy target by 2020; the group has more than 400 members, including Apple, Google and Microsoft. Climate Group said Meta could no longer meet the initiative’s technical criteria because of investments in new gas power, while Meta described the decision as mutual and said it remained committed to 100% clean and renewable energy. Meta has committed to 10 gas-plant projects since last year, including seven announced earlier in 2026; together, they could generate enough electricity to power South Dakota, making renewable-offset claims harder to defend.