CALGARY — If massive AI data centre developers continue to fail to earn community trust before announcing their plans, Alberta will not be able to land major contracts despite the province’s natural gas resources, cold climate and available land, according to an industry advisor.Brett Wightman, principal of Perigee North — an independent development advisor for large-scale power and data centre infrastructure — said that, during the past summer, developers overlooked community acceptance when assessing whether projects could proceed.Speaking to industry members at a Gas Processing Association of Canada (GPAC) event in Calgary, Wightman said developers file their “development permits, and then the project stalls. And it stalls not because of anything that was on their spreadsheet; it stalls because there was a line that isn't on the spreadsheet that should have been there, and that's community acceptance.”He pointed to the proposed AI data centre complex near Olds, put forward by Synapse Real Estate Corp., which wished to construct a $10-billion power plant and data centre campus supported by 1,400 megawatts of natural gas generation, as a prime example..In August, the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) rejected the proposed natural gas power plant that was intended to supply the centre, ruling that the site would have been too close to hundreds of homes.“The project is too close to the surrounding community, and Synapse failed to demonstrate any compelling justification for selecting that location,” the AUC said in its decision.“The site is simply not suitable for the proposed development.”Wightman’s argument is that developers need to address local concerns before seeking approvals, rather than expecting a corporate announcement to establish public support and trust. Failing to do so has lead to contentious public meetings, as seen at town halls around Alberta this summer involving Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish, where many Albertans expressed concerns about the amount of water and power required by data centres.Glubish told the Western Standard around the time of the AUC’s decision that the government had taken more than two years to “do the homework” and create an AI data centre regulatory framework designed to reduce the risk of negative effects associated with data centres.“Folks are right to have concerns because they've seen examples in other jurisdictions where folks rushed in, they didn't do their due diligence, they didn't structure the deal well, and they provided subsidies,” Glubish said.“Decisions like [the AUC’s] prove that our framework is working and our regulatory bodies are doing their job to protect the interests of Albertans and our communities.”According to Wightman, “the whole summer, this province lost a lot of momentum” due to the way some developers approached the data centre projects..Poll suggests men are 59% more likely than women to support AI data centres in Alberta.He acknowledged that identifying everyone affected by a project can be difficult, but he cited his time working at CSV Midstream Solutions and described meeting residents in driveways, on porches, and in living rooms before filing applications for a gas processing facility.“We weren’t there to pitch anything. We were there to listen and learn,” he said, adding that the relationships and trust gained from those conversations remained important when construction created difficulties. He reiterated that, when public meetings are held after announcements or approvals, residents can feel their participation will have little influence going forward.“You cannot out-factor a process that has already told people their consent is a formality,” Wightman said, citing Bill Whitelaw, founder of Future Summit, a Calgary-based AI and business consulting firm.He also said some smaller data centres can operate within existing industrial zoning, where earlier approvals may already allow infrastructure, adding that municipalities should explain their zoning, water rules and other controls early so residents understand how they can influence development.“That's the thing I think really needs to kind of get mapped out early so that the community conversation can happen early,” he said.However, he cautioned against blaming municipalities for every stalled project, saying councils can prepare land-use rules, infrastructure plans, water agreements and a framework for community benefits, but they cannot establish a developer’s relationship with local residents on its behalf.“They can open the door, but they cannot run or walk through that on the developer’s behalf,” Wightman stated.
