Meta Leaves RE100 After Decade, Pivots to Natural Gas for AI Data Centers
Meta has exited the RE100 renewable energy initiative after ten years, as the company invests heavily in natural gas power plants to support its expanding AI data centers.
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Meta has confirmed that it is no longer a member of the RE100 renewable energy initiative, ending a decade-long affiliation. The departure, described by a Meta spokesperson as mutual, comes as the company invests in a growing fleet of natural gas power plants to meet the energy demands of its AI data centers.
RE100, a project of the Climate Group—a UK-based nonprofit co-founded by former prime minister Tony Blair—requires members to source 100% of their electricity from renewable sources. The Climate Group told Recharge that Meta "is no longer able to meet the technical criteria due to investments made in new gas power."
Meta joined RE100 in 2016, aiming to achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2020. While the company initially pursued that goal, its recent actions signal a shift in strategy. Over the past year, Meta has funded at least a dozen natural gas power plants, with commitments to ten such facilities since last year alone.
The first of these, a 200 MW behind-the-meter plant in Ohio, was announced in June 2025 to power a data center. In August 2025, Meta said it would build three large natural gas plants in Louisiana for its Hyperion data center, and in April 2026, it announced funding for seven more gas plants for the same facility. Combined, the ten Hyperion plants will generate 7.5 GW—enough electricity to power the entire state of South Dakota.
Despite the exit, Meta told TechCrunch it remains committed to matching data center electricity usage with 100% clean and renewable energy. However, companies like Meta often rely on annual matching via environmental attribute certificates to make such claims, a practice that critics say is less rigorous than approaches like Microsoft's goal to match electricity use on an hourly basis.
Recharge News first reported Meta's departure from RE100. An analyst quoted by the publication noted that "a 100 percent renewable claim becomes harder to defend" amid the company's gas investments. RE100 continues to count more than 400 members, including Apple, Google, and Microsoft.