Calgary Motion Seeks Pause on Large-Scale Data Centre Applications, Heading to Executive Committee on November 3

Some members of Calgary city council are looking to put a pause on large-scale data centres. Councillor Jennifer Wyness, together with Raj Dhaliwal, Andrew Yule and John Pantazopoulos, and Mayor Jeromy Farkas, has co-sponsored a notice of motion seeking to delay land-use redesignations for large-scale data centres until the city establishes a clear regulatory framework; the motion is scheduled for technical review at the Executive Committee meeting on November 3.

What the motion asks administration to study

The notice of motion tasks city administration with exploring the implications of large-scale data centres setting up in Calgary, including the impact on infrastructure such as water, with an eye on changes that may result. Wyness said council needs to pause to create regulation, so that it understands what it governs; she noted that smaller-scale data centres already operate in the downtown core and offices, but the city needs a classification so that when a land-use application arrives, council can actually know what infrastructure needs to be provided.

What the mayor and councillors said

Farkas wrote on social media on October 27 that he is working with Wyness and colleagues to restrict and regulate large AI data centre applications, including a moratorium until clear rules can be established; he said Calgary welcomes investment, but must protect its water supply and electricity grid and ensure developers meet their responsibilities. He added that it would be very difficult for him as mayor to ask everyday Calgarians to limit showers to three minutes and only run laundry when full, if the city were to continue accepting applications from the largest industrial consumers. Pantazopoulos said a 12-month pause would give the city time to review the data centre question and then move forward in a direction that works for both the industry and Calgarians.

The northeast application behind the anxiety

The motion was prompted by a data centre proposal in Councillor Raj Dhaliwal's Ward 5 in the city's northeast. Dhaliwal said the project could potentially be the first mega data centre of its kind in Calgary, but its sheer amount of land with no details creates anxiety; he said ward residents, neighbours and friends are all asking the same question, including himself: what does this mean? The project applicant listed on the city's website is engineering consultant Stantec; CityNews reached out to the firm, but it declined to comment, citing confidentiality, and deferred to the project developer, which had yet to respond to CityNews' request for information prior to publication. The formal commenting period for the northeast data centre expires November 17.

The backdrop: Alberta's data centre push

The debate comes as the Alberta government put forward a plan earlier this year to make the province a global data centre leader, citing its abundance of natural resources and power generation capacity. At the same time, opposition is mounting to large-scale data centres elsewhere in the province, including ones near Grande Prairie, north of Calgary in Olds, and another proposed large-scale operation near Little Bow Resort, southeast of Calgary. If the motion passes, administration would report back on defining data centres, finding appropriate land uses for them, and examining their environmental and municipal utility servicing impacts.