Meta, X, Microsoft sidestep climate goals as they sprint to power artificial intelligence with new natural gas plants.

February 23, 2025
By Evan Halper

Tech and energy companies are pushingtheir ambitious green-energy goals aside and rushing to build natural gas plants across the country, amidescalating demand for power and Washington’s changing political winds.

Clean energy pioneer Microsoft is looking to new gas generation to power a $3.3 billion data center project in Wisconsin. The giant power company NextEra, which during the Biden era unveiled “the most ambitious carbon-emissions-reduction goal ever set by an energy producer” has since the Jan. 20 inauguration been more eager to talk about its plans to expand natural gas generation.

Meta late last year announced a 4-million-square-foot data center in the Louisiana delta, which filings show will be powered by new natural gas turbines. Even the investment company that led a 2021 shareholder revolt at ExxonMobil over its sluggish embrace of cleaner energy, Engine No. 1, is doubling down on fossil fuel expansions to power the explosive growth of artificial intelligence.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AT THE WASHINGTON POST

Significant solar portfolio strengthens LRE’s leadership in renewable energy, supports the increasing demand for energy and furthers energy independence

January 15, 2025 11:52 AM Eastern Standard Time

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LRE (Leeward Renewable Energy), a leading American renewable energy company, today announced over 700-megawatt alternating current (MWac) of renewable energy projects in Oklahoma that are supported in part by long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Google.

These projects are strategically sited to support Google’s data center operations and leadership in artificial intelligence (AI). They will bolster the reliability of Oklahoma’s electric grid by adding renewable capacity that improves stability and diversifies the energy mix, while also supporting national energy independence. This collaboration reinforces LRE’s commitment to delivering innovative solutions that address the evolving energy needs of its partners and the communities where its projects are based.

Construction has begun on the 372-MWac Mayes County Solar Portfolio, located just within one mile from Google’s data center in Pryor, Oklahoma. Together with the Twelvemile Solar Project 1 & 2 (152.5 MWac) and the Twelvemile 3 Solar Project (200 MWac), located in Southern Oklahoma, these projects total 724 MWac of solar capacity in Oklahoma.

LRE purchased the Mayes County Solar Portfolio earlier this year from Red River Renewable Energy, LLC (“Red River”), a joint venture between SunChase Power, LLC (“SunChase”) and Eolian, L.P. The energy generated by the solar portfolio is delivered under firm transmission service to the Grand River Dam Authority (“GRDA”). GRDA plans to utilize the clean energy produced by the projects to support operations at Google’s data center.

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January 14, 20253:00 AM ET

The Indicator from Planet Money, NPR

By: Darian Woods, Wailin Wong, Cooper Katz McKim, Kate Concannon

If you want to build a grid-scale battery project in Texas, be prepared to ride the free-market rodeo. On our second episode of this week's battery series, we visit the state that has the second-most battery storage capacity to understand whether large-scale batteries can help prevent blackouts.

Listen Now: Grid-scale battery markets from Texas to California : The Indicator from Planet Money : NPR

FT Energy Source

Dec 2, 2024

Investment in battery storage systems across the US has surged in 2024, especially in Texas. The FT’s Myles McCormick looks at how climactic conditions that lead to a fluctuating power supply, combined with the state’s low-regulation, business-friendly energy market has created ideal conditions to build battery storage sites quickly and at scale. But are we looking at a boom-bust market?

Watch More at: Texas’ battery storage: a boom and bust market? | FT Energy Source