After years of building wind and solar projects, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are betting on natural gas to fuel the data centers powering their AI ambitions. But a new forecast suggests that pivot may come back to haunt them.
For much of the past decade, the biggest tech companies positioned themselves as champions of renewable energy, signing massive deals to buy wind and solar power. Yet that enthusiasm has shifted in recent months as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft increasingly turn to natural gas to meet the enormous electricity demands of their AI-focused data centers.
A fresh analysis from Noreva, an energy research firm, warns that this newfound reliance on fossil fuels could prove costly. The report projects that natural gas prices might triple in some parts of the United States over the next several years.
The forecast attributes the potential price surge to a collision of forces: rising demand from hyperscale data centers, slowing growth in domestic gas supply, and increasing exports of liquefied natural gas. Together, these trends could tighten the market and send prices climbing sharply in certain regions.
Noreva’s researchers suggest that hyperscalers may not be fully prepared for such price shocks. If the forecast holds, the companies that once championed clean energy could find themselves exposed to volatile fuel costs just as they race to expand AI infrastructure.
The report stops short of predicting certain doom for the tech giants, but it underscores a growing tension: the industry’s hunger for computing power is colliding with the realities of energy markets. Whether that bet on natural gas becomes a strategic misstep will likely depend on how quickly prices rise and how flexible these companies can be in adapting.
