AI Factories Tend to Rely on Lots of Natural Gas

The hyperscale high-performance “computing as a service” providers (AWS, Azure, Google, Meta) mostly purchase renewable energy and report high market-based renewable energy percentages, and also use local power grid suppliers that rely on a high share of natural-gas generation (especially in Texas and Northern Virginia). 

Company / AI factory	Company claim (market-based renewables)	Major data-center regions (grid natural-gas share)	Degree of access to natural gas (High / Medium / Low)	Sources
Amazon / AWS	100% of electricity consumed matched with renewable energy (2023–2024, market-based). (Amazon Sustainability)	Heavy footprint in Northern Virginia (PJM/VA — VA generation >50% gas) and Texas (ERCOT — large gas share). US grids overall ~40% gas. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)	High	AWS has major capacity in gas-heavy US grids (Northern VA, TX). Although AWS reports “100% matched” renewables market-wide, the local grid supply for many AI clusters is still gas-dominated, so AWS has strong practical access to gas power for fast capacity scaling. (Amazon Sustainability)
Microsoft / Azure (incl. Azure OpenAI / OpenAI workloads on Azure)	Microsoft reports procuring enough renewables to match 100% of global electricity consumption (market-based). (Microsoft CDN)	Large Azure presence in Northern Virginia, Texas, and other US regions (many gas-heavy grids). US/TX/VA grid gas shares high (see EIA). (U.S. Energy Information Administration)	High	Microsoft powers OpenAI workloads on Azure; Azure’s major data-center regions overlap with gas-heavy grids (so operational access to gas is high despite market-based renewable matching). (The Official Microsoft Blog)
Meta (Facebook / Meta AI data centers)	Meta reports matching much (or all) owned/operated data-center electricity with renewables in its accounting (market-based) while expanding new local projects. (Meta Sustainability)	Big builds in Texas (Coleman County and other TX sites) and Northern Virginia; TX and VA grids have large natural-gas shares. (pv magazine USA)	High	Meta is rapidly expanding AI capacity in TX/VA — both regions with heavy natural-gas generation — so operational access to gas generation is high even as Meta signs renewables locally/contractually. (pv magazine USA)
Google / Google Cloud	Google reports having matched 100% of annual electricity consumption with renewables for years (market-based) and publishes regional hourly carbon-free percentages. (blog.google)	Google’s footprint includes Midlothian, TX (gas-heavy) but also WA/OR (hydro), and other lower-gas grids — a more geographically mixed footprint. (RTO Insider)	Medium	Because Google’s data centers are more geographically diverse (some gas-heavy, some hydro/low-gas), its practical access to gas is medium overall. It also reports regional CFE (carbon-free energy) metrics to show hourly variation. (blog.google)
Oracle Cloud	Oracle claims high renewable coverage in some disclosures (Oracle reports strong renewable procurement claims). (Oracle)	Oracle’s cloud footprint is smaller than hyperscalers and more concentrated in commercial colocation markets (regional mixes vary). Many U.S. colo grids include substantial gas. (Oracle Blogs)	Medium–Low	Oracle’s absolute compute footprint is smaller and it emphasizes renewable procurement; depending on region, local grid gas exposure varies — overall less direct exposure than the largest hyperscalers. (Oracle)
AI firms that rent cloud capacity (OpenAI, Anthropic, Stability, etc.)	OpenAI: uses Azure (Microsoft) for most workloads; Anthropic & others use mixtures of Google Cloud / Azure / AWS (multi-cloud). (The Official Microsoft Blog)	Their practical gas access ≈ the cloud provider(s) they run on. If on Azure/AWS/Google in TX/VA, access is High/Medium as above. (The Official Microsoft Blog)	Varies (follows provider)	These AI model operators rarely own global data centers; they rely on hyperscalers. So their degree of access to gas ≈ the hosting cloud’s regional grid exposure. OpenAI on Azure → High by the table above. Anthropic’s deals (Google/Azure) mean varied exposure. (The Official Microsoft Blog)

The “neo cloud” providers tend to have medium to high levels of access to natural gas for power, though the emphasis on “renewable” sources might not be as high a priority. 

Sites like CoreWeave’s Project Horizon and Galaxy/Helios (West Texas) are virtually designed around proximity to natural-gas infrastructure. For frontier-scale AI (multi-hundreds of megawatts to gigawatt scale), this gives them very-high access to gas-powered electricity.

TeraWulf’s Lake Mariner (NY) is a contrasting model: using mostly low-carbon grid supply (hydro/nuclear/clean energy) that is better for carbon-intensity, with lower reliance on gas.

Hut 8 has a mixed strategy: some sites (Canada) on cleaner grids, some (Texas, Panhandle) on gas-heavy or mixed grids, giving it a balanced, diversified exposure depending on where its compute load is run.

Riot Platforms (Rockdale / Corsicana) are among the most gas-exposed of publicly traded neo-cloud specialist compute providers. 

Company	Major sites / where compute is (or is planned to be) sited	Dominant local power sources / relevant company energy plans	Degree of access to natural gas power (High / Medium / Low)	Why / notes & primary sources
CoreWeave	Rapid expansion into West Texas / Permian projects (Project Horizon / Poolside JV), plus European builds (UK, Spain) and colo deals.	West Texas projects explicitly target locations with access to low-cost natural gas (Permian/Delaware basin) while some EU/UK sites emphasize renewable-backed supply. Net: strong access to local natural gas where it matters for large-scale AI campuses.	High	CoreWeave is anchoring large West Texas campuses that are being designed around low-cost gas-rich markets (Permian Basin/Project Horizon) while also deploying renewables-backed facilities in Europe. This gives CoreWeave high practical access to gas power for large-scale, fast-growing AI capacity. (Barron's)
Hut 8 Corp.	Mixed footprint: multiple Canadian colo/HPC sites (Vancouver, Kelowna, Mississauga/Vaughan), mining campuses (Alberta, Medicine Hat), and a growing U.S. development pipeline (planned US sites, Louisiana/Baton Rouge acquisitions announced).	Canada: strong hydro in some provinces (Quebec/BC/ON) → low gas; Alberta sites and some U.S. development pipeline → higher fossil/gas exposure. Company runs both renewables/hydro-backed sites and gas-exposed mining/power projects.	Medium	Hut 8’s compute estate is geographically mixed: many Canadian colo/HPC sites sit on low-carbon hydro grids, but Hut 8 also owns/operates power-first mining/data campuses in Alberta/other U.S. projects that expose it to gas/thermal generation. Net = medium. (Hut 8 HPC)
TeraWulf (TeraWulf Inc.)	Lake Mariner campus (Somerset/Buffalo, NY) — large hydro/low-carbon facility; Nautilus in Pennsylvania; plus announced / planned large campus development in Abernathy, Texas (joint venture with Fluidstack / Google backing).	Lake Mariner: predominantly hydro / low-carbon (NY grid + hydropower). Abernathy (TX) project would sit in gas-heavy Texas grids. Company messaging emphasizes “sustainably powered” HPC but also expansion into Texas.	Medium	TeraWulf’s core existing operations (Lake Mariner) are strongly low-carbon/hydro-aligned → low local gas exposure today. But an explicit expansion into Abernathy, Texas (large planned capacity) points to future higher gas exposure at those sites. Overall practical access = Medium (mixed existing low-gas + planned gas-region capacity). (Data Center Map)
MARA / Marathon Digital (MARA Holdings)	Large portfolio: Garden City, Granbury, McCamey (TX), multiple West Texas / Delaware Basin projects, plus international sites. Company explicitly pursuing integrated power + data center builds in West Texas (MPLX partnership).	Mix today: some wind/hydro-adjacent sites (Garden City adjacent to wind), BUT public plans to build gas-fired generation facilities in West Texas (MPLX partnership) — initial ~400 MW with potential to scale to 1.5 GW using natural gas from Delaware Basin.	High (increasing)	Marathon/MARA has both renewables-adjacent assets (e.g., Garden City wind) and explicit, recent plans/partnerships to build gas-fired generation co-located with data centers in West Texas (MPLX deal). That makes MARA’s practical access to natural gas high and rising as gas-gen projects come online. (Mara)
Riot Platforms (Riot)	Large Texas footprint (Rockdale, Corsicana) plus Kentucky facility — Rockdale is one of North America’s largest mining campuses.	Texas grids (ERCOT/North Texas) have very high shares of natural-gas generation at times; Riot’s large Texas facilities operate in gas-dominated grids and have been criticized for high fossil generation intensity. Riot’s filings list Texas facilities as core.	High	Riot’s major capacity (Rockdale, Corsicana) sits in Texas, a grid and market with large natural-gas generation share — giving Riot high practical access to gas-fired electricity for large scale compute/mining workloads. (Riot Platforms)

Of course, companies operating multiple sites will have some sites using more or less natural gas, depending on what other sources are available (hydro, for example). 

Company	Site	City	State	Natural Gas Access	Source
CoreWeave	Project Horizon (Longfellow Ranch)	Pecos County	TX	High	https://poolside.ai/blog/announcing-project-horizon; https://datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ai-startup-poolside-teams-up-with-coreweave-on-2gw-data-center-in-texas/
CoreWeave	Helios (Galaxy) - Dickens County	Afton/Dickens County	TX	High	https://investor.galaxy.com/news/; https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/texas/dickens/helios-data-center/
CoreWeave	Livingston / NJ operations (representative)	Livingston	NJ	Medium	https://www.coreweave.com/news/coreweave-announces-partnership-with-foundation-model-company-poolside-to-deliver-ai-cloud-services
TeraWulf	Lake Mariner	Barker (Lake Mariner)	NY	Low/Medium	https://www.terawulf.com/lake-mariner-mining/; https://www.gem.wiki/Lake_Mariner_facility
TeraWulf	Nautilus (Pennsylvania)	Pittsburgh area (Nautilus)	PA	Medium	https://investors.terawulf.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/83/terawulf-announces-july-2024-production-and-operations
Hut 8	King Mountain / McCamey (JV)	McCamey	TX	Medium	https://hut8.com/2025/02/04/hut-8-operations-update-for-january-2025/; https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/hut-8-operations-update-february-2025-2025-03-06
Hut 8	Vega / Texas-Panhandle (planned)	Vega	TX	Medium	https://hut8.com/news-insights/press-releases/hut-8-announces-plans-to-develop-four-new-sites
Marathon (MARA)	Garden City	Garden City	TX	Medium/High	https://baxtel.com/data-center/marathon-digital-garden-city-tx; https://www.mara.com/posts/mara-announces-25-megawatt-micro-data-center-project-powered-by-excess-natural-gas-from-oilfields
Marathon (MARA)	McCamey / West Texas projects	McCamey	TX	High	https://www.mara.com/posts/mara-announces-25-megawatt-micro-data-center-project-powered-by-excess-natural-gas-from-oilfields; https://ir.mplx.com/CorporateProfile/press-releases/news-release/2025/MPLX-and-MARA-Announce-Collaboration-on-Integrated-Power-Generation-and-Data-Center-Campuses-in-West-Texas
Riot Platforms	Rockdale	Rockdale	TX	High	https://www.riotplatforms.com/bitcoin-mining/rockdale/
Riot Platforms	Corsicana	Corsicana	TX	High	https://www.riotplatforms.com/bitcoin-mining/corsicana/; https://www.mapquest.com/us/texas/riot-platforms-inc-721940928
Core Scientific	Dalton (GA)	Dalton	GA	Medium	https://www.datacentermap.com/c/core-scientific/
Core Scientific	Grand Forks (ND)	Grand Forks	ND	Low/Medium	https://www.datacentermap.com/c/core-scientific/
Core Scientific	Muskogee (OK)	Muskogee	OK	Medium/High	https://www.datacentermap.com/c/core-scientific/
Compute North (historical)	Big Spring (TX)	Big Spring	TX	High	https://dgtlinfra.com/compute-north-chapter-11-bankruptcy-filing/; historical filings
Compute North	North Sioux City (SD)	North Sioux City	SD	Medium	https://dgtlinfra.com/compute-north-chapter-11-bankruptcy-filing/
Compute North	Kearney (NE)	Kearney	NE	Medium	https://dgtlinfra.com/compute-north-chapter-11-bankruptcy-filing/
TerraWulf (Beowulf/TeraWulf)	Lake Mariner (alternate coord)	Barker/Buffalo area	NY	Low/Medium	https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/new-york/buffalo/lake-mariner-data/; https://www.gem.wiki/Lake_Mariner_facility
TeraWulf	Nautilus (PA)	Pittsburgh area	PA	Medium	https://investors.terawulf.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/83/terawulf-announces-july-2024-production-and-operations
Greenidge	Dresden (Finger Lakes)	Dresden	NY	Low/Medium	https://www.greenidge.com/operations/
CoreWeave	Midlothian / Dallas area (representative)	Midlothian	TX	High	news coverage of cloud builds in Midlothian/Dallas area
Marathon (MARA)	Granbury (Wolf Hollow / Granbury)	Granbury	TX	High	Compute North and Marathon filings; company press releases

When You Receive Nothing You Asked For...And Everything You Needed

A Prayer of Thanksgiving by Dr. Colleen Hanycz on 1/25/21 upon her selection as the 35th president of Xavier University. 

Loving Creator,
We asked for strength, and you gave us difficulties to make us strong.
We asked for wisdom, and you gave us problems to solve.
We asked for prosperity, and you gave us purpose and brains to use.
We asked for courage, and you gave us fears to overcome.
We asked for patience, and you gave us situations where we were forced to wait.
We asked for love, and you gave us troubled people to help.
We asked for justice, and you called us to be just and to lead with integrity.

Lord, we have received nothing that we asked for or wanted.

And yet, we received everything that we needed.
For this, we give thanks.

"We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident"

Walter Isaacson's The Greatest Sentence Ever Written is an essay about the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Sadly, ironically and perhaps dangerously, the philosophy behind the sentence is radically out of step with post-modern thinking. The Founders, in that sentence, were operating under 19th century liberal principles and Enlightenment rationality, but post-modern thought is completely and unfortunately different. 

Consider the clause “self-evident,” which has a precise philosophical meaning for the people who wrote it. 

A truth is "self-evident" if any rational mind must assent to it immediately, without needing further proof or external authority. It is not merely "obvious to me" or "feels true"; it is objectively obvious based on the use of reason alone. 

Contrast that to post-modern thought, which sees nothing as self evident, all things being conditional. 

For the authors of that revolutionary and world-changing sentiment, it is fundamental that:

• Humans possess a shared rational faculty capable of grasping universal truths.

• These truths are discovered (not invented), grounded ultimately in nature, nature’s God, or the structure of reason itself.

• Self-evidence is the highest form of certainty; it is the axiom or first principle from which political legitimacy is deduced.

For post-modernists, there is no objective, universal, rationally accessible truth:

• All truth claims are historically contingent, linguistically constructed, and embedded in power relations.

• What presents itself as "self-evident" is actually the result of hegemonic discourse (power)

• Reason itself is not a neutral, universal faculty but a culturally specific tool of domination.

Element	18th-Century Liberalism ("self-evident")	Post-Modernism (denial of absolute truth)
Foundational truths	Exist and are objectively discoverable by reason	Do not exist; all "foundations" are contingent constructions
Role of reason	Universal faculty that grasps necessary truths	Historically situated, power-laden discourse
"Self-evidence"	Immediate rational assent once terms are understood	Ideological effect that masks power and exclusion
Natural rights / human equality	Self-evident axioms from which politics is deduced	Socially constructed, historically variable, often oppressive
Legitimacy of political order	Derived deductively from self-evident principles	Produced by contingent power/knowledge regimes
Attitude toward universality	Strongly affirmative (moral truths are universal)	Deeply suspicious (universality = disguised particularity)
Possibility of objective critique	Yes: appeal to self-evident reason and rights	No neutral ground; critique is always from another narrative

So the authors of the Declaration of Independence believed in natural law, while post-moderns reject it. But what is “natural law?” 

Natural law is the philosophical tradition arguing there exists a universal moral order inherent in human nature and the structure of reality itself, discoverable by human reason, and binding on all people regardless of time, place, or positive (man-made) law.

Natural law suggests morality is not invented, not merely commanded, and not reducible to power or preference. “Rights” do not, therefore, come from governments. They come from nature or reality or God.  

Post-moderns cannot accept this, of course. But one little-known fact is that the global Catholic church continues to believe in natural law, and is therefore profoundly countercultural to the dominant post-modernist project. 

And since post-modernism rejects"self-evident truth," the two positions are perfectly opposed on the question of whether anything can be rationally indisputable. 

In other words, the two schools of thought fundamentally disagree about  whether truth can exist, valid across time and space. Beyond “my truth and your truth” (which 18th century liberals might call “your opinion or my opinion”), both schools of thought radically differ on whether any objective truth, standards or realities exist. 

One therefore wonders, when applied to societies, economies, science or cultures, whether any of those things can actually survive, if “everything” is relative and conditional, based only on power relationships. 

One obvious and morally disturbing consequence is that all “ethics” or “morality” is based on some entities subjecting other entities to their understandings because of their power. In principle, there are not timeless principles that we all must or should observe; no “right” or “wrong.”

Sorry, I believe in natural law. Some things are self-evident. Some things are objectively true; others objectively false. We can disagree on what those things might be. 

But as a practical matter, any group of humans living together in large groups must functionally acknowledge objective “truth.” Stop signs mean one thing. Grammatical rules exist. Syntax exists in language. 

As an abstraction, we might hear some argue that all such rules are essentially arbitrary, which is correct. The problems arise when all human values are considered to be arbitrary, and are based solely on the exercise of power. 

For believers in natural law, good is to be done and pursued, while evil is to be avoided. But that involves some discernment about what is “good” and what is “evil,” and for any large group of humans, that cannot be a matter of personal taste.