Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was set Thursday night to take part in a virtual town hall about developing artificial intelligence data centres in the province, hours after the Opposition called for a moratorium on the projects.
The town hall was to be the third of four that the government has organized to tell Albertans about its approach to attracting and regulating the major computing facilities and hear feedback.
At the first two events, Technology Minister Nate Glubish was hit with criticism and demands for safeguards from locals.
Some who spoke said they don’t trust the government to address environmental risks or water usage concerns.
The virtual town hall was the only one the premier was scheduled to join.
NDP calls for moratorium
The Opposition NDP said Thursday there shouldn’t be any new data centre approvals until stricter rules are put in place.
It said the United Conservative Party government has rushed ahead and rubber-stamped projects without clear guidelines or first hearing the concerns of Albertans.
Smith’s government has been trying to position Alberta as an ideal destination for data centres, saying they could generate new jobs and billions in royalties and taxes for the province.
In July, Smith announced the province is welcoming tech giant Meta’s proposed $13-billion campus north of Edmonton.
Smith says rules can be adjusted
Smith told reporters Wednesday that the town halls are about finding “blind spots” in the government’s existing rules for development.
She said the government has heard the concerns about water use and the need to protect farming communities from having data centres as neighbours.
“I’m sure that we’ll hear a few more, but we’re doing (the town halls) so that we can make adjustments if we need to.”
Smith said the government is already considering how it comes up with guidance for companies to use the latest technology to limit water use, as well as specific rules for how close a data centre can be to residential areas.
A data centre project proposed in the town of Olds, north of Calgary, was rejected last week by a provincial regulator over proximity to homes.
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the province needs clear rules around setbacks and water use.
Projects should also be required to come with significant community benefits, permanent jobs and life-cycle plans for when facilities run their course, he said.
They’re the concerns his party heard most when it hosted its own data centre town halls over the summer.
“The UCP failed to create a process that Albertans can have confidence in,” Nenshi said.
He said his party’s proposal would provide certainty for residents and businesses. The rejection of the Olds project, which had been turned down once before for other reasons, represents a government failure for not having clear expectations for developers, he added.
“There is no framework in place, and they’re making it up as they go along,” he said.
“Would a company like that want to invest in Alberta again after they were treated this way by the government?”
The province didn’t immediately respond to questions about the NDP’s call for a moratorium.
Power demand raises concerns
Nenshi also said data centre projects shouldn’t lead to increased electricity prices for Albertans.
He pointed to a recent analysis by an Alberta think tank that estimates Meta’s data centre would increase annual household energy costs to $462 from $267, until an adjacent natural gas plant being built to power the operation comes online.
The analysis, published by the Pembina Institute on Wednesday, attributes the increase to the electricity demand Meta’s facility would have on the public grid and how it would tighten available supply, driving prices higher.
Meta and the office of Utilities Minister R.J. Sigurdson disputed the report.
Sigurdson’s office said in a statement that the institute is confusing which power rates are paid by consumers.
It also said most Albertans are on two-year fixed rate contracts, which shield them from market volatility, and that there are caps for rate increases.
“Further, the report fails to properly account for the competitive nature of Alberta’s electricity market, where increased demand attracts new generation, which lowers power prices,” it said.
A spokesperson for Meta called the report “speculative” and repeated that the company is paying the full cost to connect itself to the grid.
The company said it’s reviewing proposals for new clean energy projects in Alberta, so it can help to offset its electricity use.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026.