Hundreds of Rural Albertans Line Up to Battle Data Centre Goliath
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A proposed C$10-billion artificial intelligence data centre and power plant complex in Olds, Alberta, has sparked more registered intervenors than any utility project in the province’s recent history, according to a veteran regulator.
The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) doesn’t officially keep track of the statistics. But Victor Choy, lead application officer at the regulator, told The Energy Mix the project has generated more formal requests to participate in a hearing than any case he’s seen in 18 years on the job. It’s difficult to say whether it’s the most people who’ve ever filed a Statement of Intent to Participate (SIP), said Choy, because SIPs can be submitted by both individuals and groups.
When The Mix reviewed the submissions listed on the AUC website just prior to the May 29 deadline, there were just over 1,000 registrants, mostly individuals.
After an initial rejection in March, Quebec-based Synapse Real Estate Group has re-applied for AUC approval of a 1.4-gigawatt gas power plant sited within town boundaries, just over an hour’s drive north of Calgary. Synapse plans to generate power for its data centre, an amount equivalent to about a million homes, using gas from nearby pipelines.
The project doesn’t include a tie-in to Alberta’s electricity grid, so it is exempted from the province’s special data-centre tax approved this past December.
Alberta’s Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish told a packed town hall in Olds on April 7 that the location of the massive power plant on 300 acres of recently rezoned land did not seem to fit the definition of “light industrial,” adding “I think that’s pretty common sense.” His reply received applause and shouts of “thank you” from the audience, overwhelmingly opposed to the location.
“Maybe light industrial is a data centre, but light industrial is not a mega gas plant,” said Olds resident Carol Edwards. “That’s heavy industrial, and this data centre comes with a mega gas plant attached.”
Edwards told The Mix that Olds is “a wonderful place to live, really nice people, beautiful community, well maintained, I just fell in love with this place.”
She said several residents approached Synapse and asked them to move the project five kilometres outside of town, even suggesting “a couple of ideal locations” and “promising not to oppose it.”
Synapse’s failure to consider the concerns of those “directly and adversely affected,” and “significant deficiencies” in its environmental evaluations and noise impact assessments, were among the reasons the AUC rejected its first application.
Now, the AUC has accepted a second application, but has requested further information from the company with a deadline of June 5 to respond.
The AUC identified 26 issues, including land use zoning, the emergency use of 600 diesel-fuelled generators, air quality, need for public benefits, the emergency response plan, battery storage, water volumes, public consultation, wetlands disturbance, noise mitigation, and reclamation.
Synapse CEO Jason van Gaal did not respond to The Mix’s emailed questions before the deadline, including a query about whether he would reconsider the project location given the large public outcry.
“It’s very disturbing that this person is coming in and is willing to literally destroy a heritage town,” said Edwards. “You don’t put that kind of facility inside of town boundaries.”
Jasona Rondeau, a self-described “social advocate” from the small hamlet of Blackie, south of Calgary, registered as an observer for the Synapse proceeding. She told The Mix she has been helping Olds residents navigate the regulatory process.
Using her experience as an elementary school teacher, Rondeau travels all over the province assisting communities with a regulatory process she describes as “arduous” and “disruptive to people’s lives.”
The process of intervening in a hearing can be “traumatic, in some cases,” Rondeau explained, with husbands and wives finding themselves on opposite sides of the debate.
The Mix asked both Glubish and Olds Mayor Dan Daley what support they could offer to the community going through what could be a lengthy AUC process.
“We hear from residents regularly and we take those conversations seriously,” wrote Daley.
He said the town hosted public open houses, has posted regular updates about the project, replied to over 200 emails, and held briefings with the developer and various government officials “to help us convey information as accurately and fulsomely as possible.”
According to documents filed by Synapse, town council members also participated in the company’s public notification process, going door to door with company representatives prior to the first AUC application filing.
Glubish wrote in an email to The Mix that Alberta’s “concierge service” was put in place “to help proponents navigate government processes and identify the regulatory agencies, approvals, and infrastructure considerations associated with major AI data centre projects.”
As for community support, he stated: “The government does not weigh in on matters before the Alberta Utilities Commission or the decisions they issue. Further questions should be directed to those involved with the project or the AUC.”
Alberta’s NDP caucus did not respond to The Mix’s request for comment on this story.
Rondeau stepped up to help communities understand the AUC process after seeing the successful denial of a solar project near Frank Lake, a wetland near High River that is internationally designated both an Important Bird Area frequented by more than 257 bird species and a Key Biodiversity Area. Now, she’s also turning her attention to data centres, particularly those on prime agricultural land or where biodiversity or human health is threatened. Rondeau said the Synapse application was “the absolute worst thing I’ve ever seen,” and she told the Synapse CEO as much in an email, saying “it’s awful.’”
“Olds has a fighting chance because there is strength in numbers, and once you start building that energy, it really radiates, and that is exactly what’s happening right now,” said Rondeau. “The momentum is unmistakable, and people are coming together like you wouldn’t believe.”
Around 265 people concerned about the Olds data centre gathered at the site last weekend “not to protest,” said organizer Rebecca MacIntosh, whose home is across the street from it, but to form a “unity line” along the roadway, holding hands in solidarity.
“This [project] has forced dozens and dozens of families to put their lives on hold now for months, because nobody in our government or in our municipality is going to stand up on our behalf,” she told The Mix.
MacIntosh is filming a documentary about the community’s response, saying that building a data centre and power plant so close to homes “needs to be a national issue and an international issue, not an Olds issue.”
Daley agreed that “residents are right to have concerns and questions; this is a significant project of a significant scale.” He added his reassurance that “if it can’t be built responsibly, it won’t be built.”
This story is part of The Energy Mix’s partnership with the Small Change Fund.
