Industry reports indicate that multiple gigawatt-scale AI data centers are expected to break ground in Alberta within the current year, driven by available land and energy resources.
At the Global Energy Show in Calgary on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, a panel featuring Sameh Kodsi, manager at WSP Canada; Mike Shaw, vice-president of business development at ATCO Energy Systems; and Wes Cullum, senior vice-president of power generation at Beacon Data Centers, addressed the province’s rapidly evolving energy landscape. Alberta’s Technology and Innovation Minister, Nate Glubish, predicted that the province could see groundbreaking activity for large-scale data centres by late summer. “What you’re going to see later this summer is some gigawatt-scale announcements,” Glubish said. “These are shovels in the ground, permits complete, financing in place, and we’re 12 to 18 months away from the first campus being turned on.”
The province has set an ambitious target to attract $100 billion in data centre investment by 2030, capitalizing on record sector growth fueled by a global artificial intelligence arms race. However, the facilities’ substantial land, water, and energy requirements have sparked serious questions regarding their impact on local communities. In British Columbia, hundreds recently protested two planned data centres in Vancouver. Meanwhile, the future of Synapse Data Centre Inc.’s proposed facility in Olds remains uncertain after the proponent was required to resubmit its application to regulators, amid ongoing public concerns.
While Glubish did not name specific projects slated for approval this year, industry leaders emphasized the massive economic scale driving the sector. During his Calgary remarks, Cullum noted that Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet have collectively announced $760 billion in data centre investments worldwide for this year alone. Additionally, consulting firm McKinsey & Co. projects nearly $7 trillion in global data centre investment by 2030. “Very, very big numbers, and just kind of reflects the amount of demand that they’re seeing,” Cullum said. Beacon Data Centers is proposing multiple facilities across Alberta and currently operates several others throughout North America. Following the panel, Cullum declined to comment on the company’s ongoing Alberta developments, which represent billions of dollars in investment.
Conference executives, government officials, and industry insiders consistently stressed that meaningful community consultation is critical to project success. “Regardless of a data centre or any other kind of development, the ground game and getting that community support and (guiding) public perception should be goal No. 1,” said Shaw. He cautioned that while these are multi-billion-dollar ventures, companies must clearly demonstrate local benefits and impacts to avoid regulatory and social roadblocks. “That’s going to take a lot of collaboration to get that support,” Shaw added. “Otherwise, a lot of these projects will be stopped in their tracks.” Shaw also highlighted that ATCO’s natural gas and electricity distribution networks will be vital to powering these facilities, noting that “many real, serious, committed developers who have very good projects, who have thought through plans” will ultimately succeed.
To mitigate strain on existing power grids, the Alberta government has encouraged proponents to develop independent generation capacity, aiming to shield ratepayers from rising electricity costs. “If you cause the cost on our grid, you’re going to pay for it,” Glubish stated.
Despite the operational and social complexities, industry experts view the expansion as a transformative opportunity. Aric Carlisle, director at global oilfield services and data centre infrastructure solutions company SLB, affirmed the scale of the upcoming developments. “The megaprojects are coming; the gigawatt-scale campuses are coming,” Carlisle said. “That’s a massive undertaking that can’t be underestimated.”