Alberta minister jeered in Lacombe over AI data centre plans
Hundreds of residents pushed back on the province's approach to regulating billion-dollar AI data centre investments during a heated town hall in central Alberta.
Why it matters
The public pushback highlights growing tension between Alberta's push to attract massive tech investment and local concerns over water, power costs and environmental oversight.
Alberta's technology minister, Nate Glubish, faced jeers, boos and heckling during a town hall in Lacombe on Wednesday night, where hundreds of attendees voiced distrust in the provincial government's ability to oversee planned AI data centre developments.
Residents raised concerns spanning environmental risks and other impacts of the billion-dollar projects, with one attendee telling Glubish to prepare for a fight if another data centre proposal moved forward in the area.
Glubish responded that the province has developed strict rules meant to protect local water supplies, control power bills for residents, and keep new developments away from residential neighbourhoods.
A second town hall was scheduled for Thursday night in Redwater, a town north of Edmonton in Sturgeon County that is slated to host a $13-billion AI data centre project proposed by Meta.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.