Alberta’s data centre moment needs a delivery plan
Alberta has a real opportunity to attract data centre investment, but demand is no longer the constraint. Power, interconnection certainty, land readiness, permitting throughput, and credible partnership structures now decide who wins.
The question behind this piece
Everyone can say Alberta should attract data centres. The hard part is converting interest into commissioned facilities without overwhelming the grid, triggering backlash, or creating unmanageable commitments. How does Alberta build a delivery system that attracts investment while managing grid constraints and structuring credible Indigenous partnerships?
Why this matters now
Alberta has already moved from aspiration to positioning. The province published an AI data centre strategy anchored on three pillars: power capacity, sustainable cooling, and economic growth, with an explicit emphasis on reliability, affordability, and a predictable regulatory pathway. (Alberta.ca)
Investment promotion is also accelerating. Invest Alberta is actively marketing the province’s advantages: fibre connectivity (including SuperNet), a deregulated electricity market, and flexibility to contract power through structures like virtual PPAs. (Invest Alberta)
At the same time, delivery and stakeholder risk are now visible in public. In late January 2026, Olds announced a proposed large data centre project, and local concerns surfaced quickly, including questions about power demand and community impacts.
Finally, high-profile proposals raise expectations and scrutiny in equal measure. Projects promoted at a national level, including Wonder Valley, have put a spotlight on consultation quality, realism on timelines, and the credibility of benefit claims.
The winner is the province that can promise time-to-power with evidence, not optimism.
Our perspective
Alberta should treat data centre growth as a delivery program made up of three linked systems: interconnection and capacity, permitting and land readiness, and partnership and benefits. The goal is not to promise unlimited growth. The goal is to make commitments that survive scrutiny and then deliver them repeatedly.
Build an investment pathway that separates serious projects from queue speculation.
Interconnection is now the competitive battleground. Alberta needs triage and governance that protect the system while giving credible projects a reliable path. Practical moves include:
- Require stronger proof early (site control, capital readiness, realistic build plan, credible offtake intent).
- Introduce milestone-based queue progression with drop rules for non-performance.
- Publish constraint and capacity signals that investors can actually plan against.
- Assign a single accountable owner for end-to-end throughput, with a weekly decision forum to clear blockers.
Codify a phased capacity plan that is honest about constraints and fair about cost.
Investors can live with constraints. They cannot live with ambiguity. Alberta should publish a phased capacity ladder:
Phase 1: near-term capacity tied to specific substations and load pockets.
Phase 2: planned upgrades with decision gates and transparent sequencing.
Phase 3: longer-term buildouts tied to transmission planning and realistic generation assumptions.
Cost allocation is where credibility is won or lost. A defensible stance typically includes clear rules on who pays for which upgrades, explicit guardrails to protect ratepayers, and a plain-language explanation of what is socialised versus directly assigned. Keep it consistent, and apply it the same way across projects.
Industrialise permitting and land readiness without special treatment.
Investors do not need shortcuts. They need predictable throughput. Alberta can improve cycle time by standardising a “data centre permitting pack” (requirements, sequencing, agency handoffs), publishing service levels, and aligning municipal readiness with provincial goals through clear guidance and support. The province already acknowledges that establishing an AI data centre requires navigating a comprehensive approvals process across governments and agencies. The opportunity is to make that path legible and repeatable. (Alberta.ca)
Make Indigenous benefit models operational, not narrative.
Credible models share three traits: clarity, verification, and governance.
Clarity: define “benefit” in plain terms (employment, contracting, training, revenue participation, community investment).
Verification: specify evidence standards (payroll reporting, subcontract invoices, milestone-based deliverables).
Governance: establish joint oversight with decision rights, reporting cadence, and escalation paths.
To reduce ambiguity, Alberta should codify a small set of acceptable partnership patterns, then require projects to pick one and implement it with audit rights. Most importantly, link benefits to project gates (queue entry, construction start, commissioning, year-one operations), with remedies for non-delivery.
Data centre strategy is grid governance plus stakeholder credibility, or it stalls.
What we offer and how we can help
Diagnostic: Data Centre Delivery Readiness Diagnostic (3–4 weeks).
We work with provincial, utility, and municipal stakeholders to produce a decision-grade delivery plan that leadership can stand behind. You get:
- A mapped end-to-end pathway (interconnection, permitting, land), with owners and decision rights.
- A queue triage and milestone model, including drop rules and transparency standards.
- A cost allocation position paper designed to protect credibility with ratepayers and regulators.
- An Indigenous benefits framework with verification standards, governance design, and gate-based reporting.
- A 90-day setup plan (cadence, forum design, dashboards, and escalation paths) to start delivering immediately.
If you are shaping Alberta’s leverage on data centres, contact Strathen Group to discuss the diagnostic and the delivery setup needed to move from strategy to commissioned capacity.
