By bannafarsai @Adobe Stock

Engine No. 1, the hedge fund that previously challenged ExxonMobil over climate issues, is teaming up with Chevron and GE Vernova to build natural gas power plants to meet rising AI-driven energy demand. The project, reported by Jamie Smyth of the Financial Times, aims to generate up to four gigawatts of electricity by 2027. This marks a shift for both Engine No. 1 and Chevron as they invest in electricity to support economic re-industrialization and AI growth. He writes:

Engine No. 1, the hedge fund that bested ExxonMobil in a fight over its approach to climate change, is teaming up with the supermajor’s rival Chevron to build fossil fuel plants to meet soaring artificial intelligence-driven power demand.

The former activist investor said on Tuesday it was forming a joint venture with Chevron and agreed to a partnership with energy company GE Vernova to develop natural gas power plants under a fast-track timeline.

The venture comes four years after Engine No. 1 launched one of Wall Street’s most audacious proxy wars against Exxon, arguing that the oil major faced an “existential business risk” by pinning its future to fossil fuels. […]

“We still see the growth in electricity demand being significant, just in the rest of this decade, not to mention past it,” said Jeff Gustavson, president of Chevron New Energies.

“AI will be the big driver, but there are other drivers: reshoring of US manufacturing and just overall electrification in the pursuit of a lower carbon energy future.”

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