"A boom in U.S. data centres is devouring fossil fuels in Mexico - and hitting locals with power cuts and pollution."
"QUERETARO, Mexico - Mexico is attracting ever more sprawling data centres but a shortage of renewable energy means Big Tech is pumping oil, firing up gas generators and using diesel to fuel the global boom in artificial intelligence (AI).
The shortfall in green power - despite pledges by industry and government to grow capacity - has overloaded the country's existing power infrastructure and exacerbated local pollution.
"It's a lot easier to just pump more oil than it is to get an entire industrial-sized solar system built quickly,” said Masheika Allgood, founder of AllAI Consulting, which informs on the environmental impact of data centres.
A Context investigation has found that renewable energy infrastructure in Mexico is not growing anywhere near fast enough to meet the rising demands of AI, forcing companies in Querétaro state, epicentre of the boom, to rely on fossil fuels."
Diana Baptista and Fintan McDonnell report for Thomson Reuters Foundation Context December 22, 2025.
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