16 AGs accuse Big Tech of using ‘environmental accounting gimmicks’

By EPN Staff

Sixteen attorneys general from across the country suggested late last month that some of the world’s largest tech companies are engaging in “environmental accounting gimmicks” to appear greener than they really are.

This group of Republican attorneys general sent Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon a heavily footnoted letter posing 21 questions to probe what they call the companies’ “deceptive” and “unrealistic” claims of being 100% powered by renewable energy.

Why it matters

The letter suggests these companies use unbundled Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) – essentially purchasing the right to claim renewable energy that they didn’t actually use. 

The attorneys general say that energy likely would have existed regardless of the RECs and that “big tech appears to be spending money on these certificates solely for the ability to engage in what appears to be deceptive marketing.”

This practice pushes energy policy toward intermittent renewables, the letter argues, while large tech companies cut deals for fossil-fuel-generated                 baseload power, potentially causing future energy shortages.

The bigger picture

Major tech companies are in an arms race to build data centers and other infrastructure for artificial intelligence, and they’re aggressively making deals with utility companies and other providers to power those centers.

The increased demand is expected to raise prices, and the letter says it may also cause electricity shortages as companies soak up “baseload sources like nuclear power for themselves, while pushing utilities towards harmful net-zero goals” that rely on intermittent sources like wind and solar.

The AGs’ letter repeatedly quotes the four companies' own sustainability reports to note emissions upticks from the last several years. For example: It says that Google’s “overall emissions are up by over 50% since 2019.”

Microsoft’s annual sustainability report earlier this year said that the company’s overall carbon emissions had increased 23.4% compared to its 2020 baseline.

Tech companies need nuclear power to hit future carbon emission goals, the letter argues, but in the meantime they’re relying on RECs that merely show “renewable energy was generated somewhere on the planet.”

It’s like claiming products are “Made in the USA,” the letter argues, when in reality a company has “purchased the right to make ‘Made in the USA’ claims from other manufacturers.”

The response

A spokesperson for Amazon said the company was reviewing the letter and that “our renewable energy claims are verified by independent third-party assurers.”

She also provided the methodology Amazon uses to make its renewable energy claims.

“To calculate the percentage of electricity consumed by Amazon’s global operations matched by renewable energy sources, we evaluate the amount of energy generated from renewable energy projects enabled by Amazon plus renewable energy in the grids where Amazon operates, and divide this value by the total energy consumed by Amazon business operations globally during the reporting year,” that methodology states.

The document also notes Amazon commitments to deploy rooftop solar systems on its buildings, invest in utility-scale renewable projects and to pursue various emissions goals.

Through a spokesperson, Microsoft declined to comment on the letter. Google and Meta didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Additional details

Dated September 24, the letter was sent by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and co-signed by attorneys general from 15 other states – including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania – and gives the companies until October 27 to respond to the Montana Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Protection.