Dear Editor,
It was with alarm that I read of the $4-billion data centre proposal and not because I am opposed to data centres.
I am in the tech business and am fully aware of the need for additional data centre capacity. What caused concern was the comment about connecting to the power grid.
These facilities draw tremendous amounts of power, power that is required 24/7. This will effectively mean that our grid capacity will need to increase to supply these facilities.
During normal peak load periods the power consumed by data centres would result in an increase to the peak load required and thus increased power capacity and increased transmission capacity.
The costs associated with this would come from all consumers and not just the data centre companies. In other words, we would all have to shoulder the increased costs of having these centres connect to the grid.
I thought I had heard Premier Danielle Smith say that data centres were welcome in Alberta as long as they created their own power and did not draw power from the grid. I believe that is the only way to responsibly develop large scale data centres in Alberta and I hope she sticks to that pledge.
Otherwise, we will all see increases in our power and power transmission charges.
John Lowe
Foothills County
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