Smith says Alberta's AI data centres will be built in established industrial areas

EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith attempted to calm individuals concerned about the locations of AI data centres on Saturday, saying the facilities will be built in established "heavy industrial zones," but municipalities must be given some freedom to approve project sites. "I'm concerned because I have heard of individual sites that, you know, a farmer doesn't want to farm anymore, and a data center operator comes along and says, 'Hey, sell me your field, and then starts the process,'" said Smith during her radio show. "That's not really what we want happening here. We want our municipalities to be able to identify where these should go." The location of AI data centres in proximity to municipalities was a concern after the Alberta Utilities Commission, on Aug. 17, rejected an application for a power plant intended to fuel a data centre project near Olds. AUC denied the power plant's site application after determining that the applicant could not justify why the large-scale project could not be built further away from Olds. .Along with water and energy consumption, the location of data centres is a common concern raised by individuals who oppose them. On Saturday, Smith's co-host, Wayne Nelson, asked the premier if her government was prepared to establish overall standards to protect every municipality with concerns about where a data centre is built. Smith said municipalities in Alberta have some freedom in zoning and land taxation, but there also should not be "320 different municipalities trying to grapple through this." "We know that there's some gaps that we may have to fill with policy, and some direction that we need to give to make it easier for municipalities to figure out the best place to site these," Smith said. "We're prepared to do that.".One caller also expressed concerns about the size of the projects, and what happens to the facilities if a data centre vacates the space, similar to what has happened with inactive oil wells or renewable energy projects. "We're talking about having these in already established heavy industrial zones," Smith said. "A heavy industrial zone, kind of by definition, is an area where a municipality has decided will have heavy industry on it.""It's never going to go back to pristine farmland. It's going to either have a warehouse on it, or an industrial, or aerospace, or some kind of manufacturing, or on and on and on."Smith and Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish will address AI data centres during a virtual town hall on Tuesday.

Smith says Alberta's AI data centres will be built in established industrial areas

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