McCuskey Joins Investigation Of Tech Companies Renewable Claims

Attorney General JB McCuskey has signed on with 16 state attorneys general to investigate claims from major tech companies that they are solely powered by renewable energy. 

In a letter sent to Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon executives, the coalition of attorneys general outlined concerns with what they call false claims the companies have made about their energy use and the impact it could have on the nation’s electric grid. 

The letter claims the companies rely on purchased certificates to offset emissions, and that threatens the integrity of the electrical grid as utility companies shut down coal and natural gas plants. 

The companies purchase unbundled “renewable energy certificates” (RECs), which are tradable credits showing renewable energy was produced and added to the grid, allowing the companies to claim they use renewable energy, even though they are consuming fossil fuels.

“When big tech companies claim to use 100% renewable energy, they pressure utilities to move away from fossil-fuel-generated baseload power to attract or retain big tech data center development,” the letter states. 

In a press release, McCuskey said the companies can’t have it both ways. 

“They can’t use our reliable, affordable, abundant energy — but virtue signal that they’re ‘green’,” he said. “They’re not green, because it’s not practical or possible. It’s deceptive and I’m proud to stand with this coalition to push back against the hypocrisy from these woke companies.”

This is the latest joint letter of attorneys general McCuskey has signed onto. 

Last week he announced he was co-leading with Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman a coalition of 26 states in a comment letter to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supporting the agency’s proposed reversal of Clean Air Act rules and standards. 

In August, McCuskey joined a 23-state coalition of attorneys general urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cancel grants to the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), which has been funding climate advocacy trainings for judges across the country.