Microsoft and Chevron have partnered to construct a 2.67-gigawatt natural gas power plant in West Texas, designed to serve Microsoft’s AI and cloud data centers. Under the terms of their agreement, Microsoft will purchase dedicated electricity from the plant over the next two decades.

The project is set to be ‘among the largest co-located natural gas power and data center developments’ in the United States, according to Chevron, highlighting a significant change for a company known for its sustainability push. Despite pledging carbon-neutral operations by 2030, this move might make it harder for Microsoft to meet that goal.

Project Kilby, as the plant is named, has the potential to emit more than 13 million tons of CO2, over 3,200 tons of criteria air pollutants and nearly a quarter of a million pounds of hazardous air pollutants. Critics argue that this heavy reliance on natural gas could undermine Microsoft’s climate commitments.

This development comes at a time when tech companies are increasingly facing scrutiny for their environmental impact. While some see the partnership as a pragmatic approach to meeting data center energy demands, others fear it might set a worrying precedent in the tech industry.