Microsoft is reviewing its plan to run fully on round-the-clock renewable energy by 2030, due to high power demand from artificial intelligence systems, which puts limits on the target.
Microsoft has been working towards matching all of its hourly electricity use with renewable energy purchases within the next five years.
That goal, set in 2020, stood out at the time because it went beyond annual offsets and focused on real-time energy use. Now, people familiar with internal discussions say the company is weighing whether to delay or drop it.
The discussion comes as Microsoft spends heavily on infrastructure to support artificial intelligence. Like Amazon and Alphabet, it is building large data centres to run services such as Copilot and its Azure cloud platform.
These facilities require vast amounts of electricity, and demand is rising faster than earlier projections suggested.
Some of the newer sites under development are expected to draw several gigawatts of power. To put that in context, one gigawatt can supply roughly 750,000 homes in the United States. Meeting that level of demand with renewable sources alone is proving difficult, especially within tight timelines.
Energy supply is now a practical concern. Renewable projects take years to plan and build. By contrast, natural gas plants and nuclear facilities can be brought online more quickly, and companies are turning to them to avoid delays.
Microsoft has already taken steps in that direction. In 2024, it reached an agreement with Constellation Energy to help restart a unit at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The deal shows how the company is balancing its climate targets with immediate energy needs.
The pressure is not limited to Microsoft. Across the sector, emissions have continued to rise despite public commitments to cut them. That gap is drawing attention from regulators and investors, who are watching closely as companies expand their AI operations.
For now, Microsoft has not commented publicly on the reported review. What is clear is that the scale of AI is changing earlier assumptions. The company set one of the most ambitious clean energy goals in the industry. Whether it can still meet it on time is now uncertain.
