Sixteen Republican state attorneys general are launching an investigation into what they say are misleading claims by major tech companies that they are solely powered by renewables.
In a letter last week to Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon, the states said the tech giants are using “environmental accounting gimmicks” to claim 100 percent reliance on renewables. The state attorneys general said such claims could threaten the electrical grid as utility companies seek to close coal and natural gas plants in bids to attract tech development.
“When big tech companies claim to use 100 percent renewable energy, they pressure utilities to move away from fossil-fuel-generated baseload power to attract or retain big tech data center development,” the letter said.
Led by Austin Knudsen of Montana, the state attorneys general accused the four companies of engaging in a “shell game” by purchasing unbundled “renewable energy certificates” (RECs) and claiming the “renewable” attribute of energy that is used by someone else as their own energy use. RECs have allowed companies like Amazon to match their increasing demand for power with renewables.
