HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in launching an investigation into major tech companies regarding their misleading and deceptive claims that they are solely powered by renewable energy.
In a letter sent this week to Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon executives, AG Sunday and the coalition outlined their concerns with how the companies’ false claims deceive consumers and could impact the nation’s electric grid.
“Big Tech is in our homes and hands every single day, so we must hold them to the highest standard of transparency and truth,” Attorney General Sunday said. “What we have found is that Big Tech is making false claims of being “green.” These false claims neglect natural power resources, including coal and gas resources that are power and economic drivers across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
The coalition’s letter argues that the companies’ claims about purchased certificates to offset emissions are deceptive, as purchasing these credits do not reduce their own or any emissions. There are concerns that in addition to the deceptive claims for consumers, Big Tech companies are pressuring utilities to move away from fossil-fuel-generated baseload power and, in doing so, destabilizing our existing power grids.
The letter is led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and was joined by Attorney General Sunday and attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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