Meta has moved to enter the electricity trading sector as part of a broader strategy to secure long-term energy supply for its rapidly expanding AI data center infrastructure. The company, alongside Microsoft, is seeking federal authorization to buy and resell power on wholesale markets, a permission Apple has already obtained.
Meta says the ability to trade electricity would allow it to commit to purchasing power from new generation projects while reducing financial risk by reselling excess capacity. Urvi Parekh, Meta’s Head of Global Energy, emphasized that developers require major consumers to demonstrate commitment to new power investments and noted that grid expansion is not keeping pace with the company’s AI-driven energy demands.
Bloomberg reports that Meta’s upcoming data center campus in Louisiana alone will require the construction of at least three new gas-fired plants, underscoring the scale of power needed to support next-generation AI workloads.
