Meta, Google, and Microsoft race to lock up natural gas capacity for AI data centers — and risks are mounting
The three tech giants are committing to gigawatts of gas generation capacity to feed insatiable AI energy demand, raising questions about long-term resource and climate exposure.
Meta, Microsoft, and Google are each building or contracting for large-scale natural gas power plants to supply their expanding AI data centers, according to an analysis by TechCrunch published April 3. The scale of these commitments is striking: Meta is adding seven natural gas plants to its Hyperion data center campus in Louisiana, pushing the site's total capacity to 7.46 gigawatts — enough electricity to power the entire state of South Dakota.
Microsoft is working with Chevron and Engine No. 1 on a West Texas facility that could ultimately produce 5 gigawatts. Google, meanwhile, is partnering with Crusoe Energy to build a 933-megawatt gas plant in North Texas.
The rush is driven by the near-insatiable power demands of AI inference and training workloads, which are growing faster than the grid can accommodate. Rather than wait years for utility-scale renewable or nuclear projects, the companies are placing gas turbines "behind the meter" — directly connected to their data centers, sidestepping the public electrical grid entirely.
Executives argue this approach lets them bring their own power without straining the grid, though critics note it shifts energy pressure onto the natural gas supply network instead.
The strategy carries significant supply risks. New turbine orders are currently unavailable until 2028, with delivery timelines as long as six years.
Wood Mackenzie estimates turbine prices could rise 195 percent by end of 2026 relative to 2019 levels, and equipment costs alone represent 20 to 30 percent of total plant construction budgets. Cold-weather events like the 2021 Texas freeze, which froze gas wellheads and caused widespread outages, illustrate the fragility of relying on gas under extreme conditions.
Behind-the-meter gas also competes with households and industries — including petrochemical plants — for the same fuel supply, a dynamic that could drive up energy costs across the board if demand continues on its current trajectory.
Read the original reporting at TechCrunch.
