Investor Concerns Mount As Big Tech’s AI Power Race Threatens Credibility on Climate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet face shareholder concern for failing to draw a clear line against new fossil fuel-based power for their data centers.
MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, [email protected], 310.730.9407
EL CERRITO, CALIFORNIA— May 13, 2026 – Shareholders are asking the world’s largest AI companies - Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet – how they are ensuring compatibility between skyrocketing electricity use at data centers and their climate commitments. The proposals, filed by As You Sow, the Presbyterian Church (USA), Mercy Investments, and Trillium Asset Management, will be voted on at each company’s annual meeting this month, scheduled for May 20th, May 27th, and June 5th, respectively.
In a race to dominate the AI industry, tech companies are rapidly building energy-hungry data centers, creating competition to find large amounts of power from an already constrained grid. Utilities, inundated with interconnection requests from data centers, are planning new fossil-fired infrastructure buildouts. Rather than pushing back and working with utilities on clean energy sourcing, many tech companies are taking whatever power is available, even if it means increasing reliance on fossil-based power from the grid or building their own natural gas plants.
The climate impacts of this power race are already clear: all three companies have reported rising greenhouse gas emissions linked to electricity use. Meta’s emissions from electricity use, for example, increased nearly 150% between 2019 and 2024. Meeting growing energy demand by locking in new fossil-based power resources builds climate impact into the system for decades to come. Climate emissions goals are designed to avoid this type of backsliding.
Powering data centers with fossil-based electricity is also driving community opposition and regulatory pushback. Many communities are rejecting new data centers due to the environmental and social impacts of building new power plants. In response, policymakers are imposing stricter oversight, including proposed moratoriums on new data centers.
“Community support is now a gating factor for data center growth,” said Katie Carter from Presbyterian Life & Witness, an agency of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). “Companies that align new data centers with local clean energy development and tangible community benefits will secure faster approvals and more durable operations. Accelerating the clean energy transition isn’t just good policy—it’s essential to maintaining a social license to operate.”
“The narrative that energy demand from AI can only be met with new fossil fuels is increasingly outdated,” said Chris Richardson, Shareholder Advocacy Manager at Mercy Investments. “Proven pathways exist to align data center expansion with clean energy procurement and grid decarbonization.” Investors have pointed to emerging leadership models, including Alphabet’s plan to fund new, local renewable energy to fully power its data center in Minnesota.
Shareholder proposals note that a focus on near-term, clean energy development will also address growing investor concerns about energy security, long-term cost control, and potential procurement delays associated with building new gas plants and nuclear energy.
“In the AI race, tech giants risk undermining their climate commitments at precisely the moment disciplined long-term decision-making matters most,” said Andrea Ranger, Director of Shareholder Advocacy at Trillium Asset Management. “Shareholders are asking for a credible strategy that preserves both climate goals and leadership in the AI economy.”
These proposals build on momentum created by proposals filed in 2025 which marked the first instances of investor pushback on climate risks associated with the AI boom and the expansion of data center infrastructure. A 2025 proposal filed at Amazon by Majority Action on behalf of the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice received a 20% vote, marking significant investor support for a first-year proposal.
About As You Sow
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. Its focus areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, the Rights of Nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.