Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has quit RE100, the global corporate initiative whose members commit to using 100% renewable electricity. That’s because Meta is bankrolling a fleet of new gas-fired power plants to fuel its expanding AI data centers.

Recharge first reported in an exclusive story on July 23 that Meta and RE100 had parted ways because the tech giant no longer met the initiative’s technical criteria. Meta joined RE100 as Facebook in 2016 and pledged to cover its entire operation with renewable electricity by 2020. The tech giant stated in 2021 that it had reached that target. Meta has always done so with renewable energy certificates (RECs) and PPAs, not by powering directly with renewables.

Then came AI’s insatiable appetite for power.

At Meta’s largest data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, the original power plan called for three new gas plants totaling about 2.26 gigawatts (GW). In March 2026, utility Entergy Louisiana announced a second agreement: Meta will fund seven additional combined-cycle gas plants, totaling more than 5.2 GW. That takes the Louisiana buildout to 10 gas plants and roughly 7.5 GW. Meta is also tied to a 200-megawatt (MW) behind-the-meter gas project in Ohio announced in June 2025.