Ask someone where an AI data centre gets its electricity and you may get three apparently contradictory answers: the grid, a solar farm and a gas-fired power plant. All three can be true. The centre may draw electricity from the regional grid, purchase renewable energy through a long-term contract and operate generators on site for backup or additional supply. They describe different parts of the arrangement, so the first job is to work out what each claim means.
A renewable power purchase agreement can help finance a new wind or solar project. That is a potentially meaningful benefit, but it doesn't establish that the centre is using renewable power every hour. Solar production falls after sunset; wind output varies. The electricity physically supplied at any particular moment depends on grid operations and the generation available in that location. Likewise, a company can announce an on-site gas plant without showing that the plant has been commissioned or how often it runs.
The answers tend to sit in utility agreements, permits and operating reports. Interconnection agreements identify the grid connection. Power contracts and company reporting identify the purchasing arrangement. Permits and operating reports tell us what generators exist and what they are authorized to do. Metered annual electricity use provides a better picture of operations than the capacity of a proposed installation. Where hourly electricity sourcing isn't available, the sensible answer is that the hourly mix is unknown.
Comparing operators on generation becomes useful only once we keep contracted renewable energy, physical grid supply, on-site generation and emergency backup in separate fields. Otherwise we risk rewarding a headline or condemning a facility for infrastructure it has not yet built.
These explainers separate announced plans, recorded outcomes and unresolved questions. Find individual facility sources and submit corrections in the Observatory.
General background: IEA, Energy and AI. For site-specific claims, consult each facility's source records.