Meta is preparing to take a major step into the electricity trading business as the company works to secure the massive amounts of energy required to run its rapidly growing network of AI-driven data centers. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Meta along with Microsoft is seeking federal approval to trade electricity, a move that could fundamentally reshape how tech giants interact with the energy market.
Why Meta Wants to Trade Electricity
The company’s primary goal is to speed up the construction of new power plants that can meet its soaring energy needs. Meta says that participating in energy trading would allow it to make long-term commitments to buy power from newly built facilities. This would give power plant developers confidence that there will be reliable buyers for the electricity they generate.
At the same time, having federal approval to trade electricity gives Meta the ability to resell unused power on wholesale markets, protecting the company from financial risk if it commits to more power capacity than needed at certain times.
Meta’s head of global energy, Urvi Parekh, told Bloomberg that energy developers want tech companies to take a more direct role in expanding the amount of available electricity. “They want to know that the consumers of power are willing to put skin in the game,” Parekh said.
She added that without Meta stepping in, expansion of the power grid and the construction of new plants would not be happening as quickly as the company requires.
AI Boom Is Driving Unprecedented Energy Demand
Meta’s push into electricity trading highlights a much larger issue across the tech industry: the explosive energy demand of AI infrastructure. As companies race to build bigger AI models and larger data centers, energy consumption has skyrocketed.
Bloomberg’s report notes that at least three new gas-powered electricity plants will need to be built just to support Meta’s massive Louisiana data center campus. This is just one example of how the surge in AI development is forcing companies to rethink their energy strategies and secure new power sources at a rapid pace.
Meta is not alone in this pursuit. Microsoft is also seeking federal approval, and Apple already has it. As more tech companies enter the electricity market, their influence on the U.S. power grid and energy infrastructure is likely to grow.
This shift signals a future where Big Tech becomes a major player in energy development, driving new investments and accelerating the construction of next-generation power systems.
