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Indigenous communities in Canada’s Alberta province are pushing back on restrictions they say hinder investment in new data centers needed to power the growth of artificial intelligence.
The Enoch Cree, Alexis Nakota Sioux, Alexander and Paul First Nations sent a letter to the province’s premier, Danielle Smith, saying recently announced limits on data-center access to the power grid will undermine their communities’ efforts to generate revenue from the AI boom.
With abundant supplies of relatively low-cost natural gas, Alberta has sought to position itself as a hub for data-center projects. But in early June, the Alberta Electric System Operator announced it would limit connections to no more than 1,200 megawatts for “large load projects” including data centers until 2028 after more than two dozen projects were proposed, representing more than 16 gigawatts of electricity.
“This interim 1,200 megawatt limit – spread across multiple years and projects – falls far short of what is needed to compete for transformative, gigawatt-scale investments,” the nations said in the letter seen by Bloomberg News.
Alberta’s First Nations have increasingly sought ownership of large energy-related infrastructure projects such as pipelines and tank storage farms as a means to earn revenue Canadian energy companies have been partnering more frequently with the communities whose land is affected by their projects in a bid to head off potential environmental and legal opposition.
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