In late 2024, Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish said Alberta hoped to have $100 billion in data centres under construction in five years.

But its electricity grid currently doesn’t have capacity to accommodate several such projects. So it’s prioritizing projects that build or contract their own power generation, as Meta is planning to do.

Meta’s announcement is a “big deal for Alberta,” Glubish said Wednesday.

“We didn’t do it by accident. We did it by design. We did in a way that is going to benefit Albertans,” he said.

“We did not want to be first and rush in blindly. We wanted to be smartest to ensure that we had a fair, reasonable, clear regulatory framework so that anybody who wants to build a data centre here knows exactly what to expect, exactly what they need to do, and every Albertan can be confident that their interests are protected and that they will benefit from this investment.”

Glubish told reporters Alberta’s concierge team has been in talks with at least 60 different proponents of various sizes.

Some projects have riled up local communities, including a data centre plan north of Calgary in Olds.

Synapse Real Estate Corp.’s 10-building complex, powered by a collective 1.4 gigawatts of natural gas-fired electricity, would be situated within the town limits near homes and businesses. The Alberta Utilities Commission rejected it earlier this year, citing “significant deficiencies,” and a new application is now before the regulator.

Premier Danielle Smith told reporters Wednesday that the Meta project would be built in an area well-accustomed to heavy industrial operations, with refineries and petrochemical plants.

“I look at the different issues that have been raised in different communities. We took those seriously, and I believe that this particular project answered all of those.”

Sturgeon County is becoming an “important part of Canada’s emerging AI and power corridor,” said Mayor Alanna Hnatiw.

“And that brings opportunity, and it also brings with it responsibility,” she said.

“I am so pleased that Meta has embraced the environmental standards in our designated industrial zone and that they are willing participants in our approach to responsible land stewardship.”

Last week, Pembina Pipeline, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management announced they had decided to go ahead with their Greenlight Electricity Centre in Sturgeon County. At the time, they didn’t disclose the customer would be Meta.

They expect their 932-megawatt power project to cost $4.6 billion to build, with startup targeted for the second half of 2030. The companies have permits that would allow them to double capacity down the line.

Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, called for a moratorium on “megadata centres,” until there are legislated environmental and human rights protections on AI.

“We’re seeing these kinds of promises made all by AI data centre proponents around the world, but the reality is that these are billionaires trying to steal our water and pollute the air so they can double our electricity while taking away our jobs.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2026.

Companies in this story: (TSX:PPL)

— With files from Jack Farrell in Edmonton

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press