FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 14th, 2026

Edmonton - As Meta Platforms Inc. celebrates provincial approval for its $13-billion AI data centre in Sturgeon County, Public Interest Alberta is calling out the UCP government's alarming pattern of prioritizing Big Tech profits over the province's energy security, environmental sustainability, and democratic process.
 

Grid Overload: Putting Albertans at Risk
The UCP government has been aggressively courting data centre investment, with Premier Danielle Smith touting Alberta's "openness to business" and boasting that the province has attracted $200 billion in potential data centre investment . But this embrace comes with staggering risks that the government has failed to adequately address.

Proposed data centre projects in Alberta now total over 20,000 megawatts (MW) of demand, roughly equivalent to the entire existing capacity of Alberta's electricity grid . To put this in perspective, a single large data centre can consume 1.5 to 2 times Calgary's entire electrical load. The AESO has been forced to cap large-load connections at just 1,200 MW through 2028 to prevent grid collapse, yet the UCP continues to green light projects without ensuring adequate power supply exists.

A $4.6 Billion Hidden Cost and That's Just the Beginning
While the government touts Meta's $13-billion investment, it conveniently omits the additional **$3.2 billion USD** cost for the dedicated Greenlight Electricity Centre natural gas plant required to power the facility . This "bring your own power" approach is being pushed by the UCP to avoid responsibility for grid upgrades, but the environmental and cost implications are staggering. The UCP has also confirmed a 2% hardware levy on grid-connected data centres drawing at least 75 MW, but this levy is fully creditable against provincial corporate income tax, meaning taxpayers will see little to no benefit.

Silencing Communities, Bypassing Democracy
The approval process for the Sturgeon County facility was rushed through without meaningful public consultation, with residents learning about the project after the fact—a "ta da" approach to governance that disrespects democratic norms. This pattern mirrors the UCP's handling of other controversial data centre proposals, including Kevin O'Leary's "Wonder Valley" project, which has faced organized community resistance and opposition from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation over concerns about environmental impacts and Indigenous rights.
 

What Albertans Should Know About the UCP's Data Centre Rush

  1. The grid can't handle it: Data centre demand already matches Alberta's entire grid capacity. Even with a temporary cap, the long-term risk of electricity shortages and price spikes is real.

  2. The "Alberta Advantage" is corporate welfare: The UCP is offering tax credits and rolling back environmental regulations to attract projects that create few permanent jobs and offer minimal economic spin-off for communities.

  3. The climate cost is being ignored: By doubling down on natural gas-powered data centres, the UCP is locking Alberta into fossil fuel dependency for decades, undermining any pretence of climate leadership.

  4. Communities are being silenced: Rural Albertans and Indigenous communities are being steamrolled in the rush to court Big Tech investment.
     

"It's time to ask: whose Alberta Advantage is this really for?" said Bradley Lafortune, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. "The UCP is gambling our resources, our grid, and our communities so a handful of tech giants can build digital pipelines. Albertans deserve better."

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Executive Director, Bradley Lafortune is available for interviews.

Public Interest Alberta is a non-profit, non-partisan, province-wide organization focused on education and advocacy on public interest issues. Public Interest Alberta encourages all Albertans opposed to the privatization and ideological overreach by the provincial government to join Public Interest Alberta.

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Media Contact:

Shiza Wasi
Communications & Membership Engagement Officer
Public Interest Alberta 
[email protected]