Meta is making an unprecedented move into electricity trading to accelerate power plant construction for its AI data centers. The company is seeking federal approval to buy and resell electricity on wholesale markets, joining Microsoft in this strategy while Apple has already secured similar permissions. This marks a fundamental shift as tech companies become direct players in America's power grid infrastructure.
Meta just crossed a line that transforms it from a tech company into an energy trader. The move, revealed in Bloomberg reports, shows how desperately Big Tech needs power for AI ambitions.
The company is asking federal regulators for permission to trade electricity on wholesale markets, joining Microsoft in this unprecedented strategy. Apple already secured these trading rights, making it clear that tech's biggest players are reshaping America's energy landscape.
"Power plant developers want to know that the consumers of power are willing to put skin in the game," Meta's head of global energy Urvi Parekh told Bloomberg. Her comments reveal the chicken-and-egg problem strangling AI infrastructure development.
Here's how it works: Meta wants to make massive, long-term commitments to buy electricity from new power plants. But to hedge that enormous financial risk, they need the ability to resell excess power on wholesale markets when demand fluctuates. It's essentially becoming an energy middleman to guarantee new power plants get built.
The numbers behind this strategy are staggering. Meta's Louisiana data center campus alone will require at least three new gas-powered plants, according to the Bloomberg report. That's just one facility among dozens is planning globally.
