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By Laila Kearney

HOUSTON, March 12 (Reuters) - U.S. wind and solar

development still has significant room for expansion to power

data centers, particularly in the Midwest wind corridor and

sunny southwest, Microsoft ( MSFT ) Vice President of Energy Bobby Hollis

told Reuters at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston on

Wednesday.

The quick proliferation of Big Tech's energy-intensive data

centers to expand AI and cloud technologies is rattling the

long-stagnant U.S. power industry, pushing the country's power

consumption to new highs and raising questions about whether

carbon-free renewable electricity will be supplanted with

gas-fired power.

"We still think there is a very long road ahead that keeps

renewables an important part of the mix in the places where that

makes sense," said Hollis.

Microsoft ( MSFT ), which pledged five years ago to be carbon

negative by 2030, is in the middle of one of the biggest data

center expansions of any company globally, with plans to

invest $80 billion

in the effort this year alone that will require vast

quantities of electricity.

Solar and wind are intermittent, only producing energy when

the sun is shining or wind is blowing, a problem for data

centers that must run around the clock.

Cheap and abundant natural gas, which produces 24/7

electricity but produces emissions that contribute to global

warming, has become a quick and

increasingly attractive option

to big power users who had sought to lead the transition to

carbon-free renewable energy.

"Let's add more gas when it's necessary," said Hollis, whose

company said it has procured more than 30 gigawatts of renewable

power globally. "Before we ever get to that place, let's make

sure that we've added the renewables."

The mid-section of the U.S., with consistent and strong

winds, is ripe for development of wind powered data centers,

while solar power can be expanded in the sunny southeast, he

said.