Tech Giants Build Natural Gas Plants for AI Data Centers

Tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft are increasingly building self-use, "behind-the-meter" natural gas power plants to directly power their rapidly expanding AI data centers. This shift is driven by grid connection delays and the massive energy demands of the AI boom. The construction of these natural gas plants could increase US power sector carbon emissions by up to 20%, severely undermining the tech industry's net-zero climate commitments. It highlights a growing conflict between the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and global sustainability goals. BloombergNEF tracked 99 proposed gas plants that could emit 318 million tons of CO2 annually. Notably, Amazon and Microsoft are developing projects in Texas with a combined capacity potentially exceeding 10GW, which is enough to power New York City on a hot summer day.