Microsoft may delay 2030 zero-carbon power goal

Microsoft may delay or scrap its 2030 target to match all electricity use every hour with zero carbon power as AI data center expansion raises energy needs and costs.

The 100/100/0 goal, announced in 2021, is stricter than Microsoft’s annual renewable matching target, which it has already met. No final decision has been made.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company is still looking for ways to maintain annual matching but did not comment on the hourly target.

The review comes as AI drives up emissions and power demand across Big Tech.

Microsoft has discussed funding a natural gas plant while planning to spend US$190 billion through December, mostly on data centers.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

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Implications, context, and why it matters.

Microsoft’s AI expansion is driving new fossil fuel infrastructure

Microsoft’s emissions rose more than 23% across about the first five years of its climate commitments, according to its sustainability reports 1.
Microsoft is in exclusive talks with Chevron and Engine No. 1 on a proposed US$7 billion natural gas power project in West Texas. The first phase is expected to produce 2,500 megawatts 2.
The “behind-the-meter” setup would send round-the-clock electricity straight to Microsoft data centers and reduce added pressure on regional grids 2.
In Wisconsin, two new gas plants are meant to help run a Microsoft data center. Solar investment elsewhere in the state is described as an offset 1.
Microsoft and other US tech companies lobbied the European Union (EU) to keep key performance indicators, or performance measures, for individual data centers private under EU rules, which limits scrutiny of site-level environmental data 3.

AI’s energy thirst is pushing Big Tech toward dedicated power deals

Tighter power supply is drawing tech companies closer to oil and gas producers. Big Oil and Big Tech are partnering “like never before,” said Mike Wirth, chief executive, Chevron 4.
These private power arrangements can shift environmental costs to nearby communities. Data centers use large amounts of water and electricity, and many are going up in water-stressed areas 5.
Utility customers can also absorb part of the bill when companies pass grid upgrade costs for data centers on to all ratepayers 5.
In Virginia, Dominion proposed its first base-rate increase since 1992. It would add about US$8.51 a month in 2026 and US$2.00 a month in 2027 for a typical household. The filing links rapid data center growth to grid strain and rate concerns 6.