Open Letter to the Government of Alberta on Data Centre Investment and Opportunity

EDMONTON, Alberta, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- We are sending an open letter to the Honourable Premier Danielle Smith and Members of the Government of Alberta, which reads as follows:

To the Honourable Premier Danielle Smith and Members of the Government of Alberta,

We write to you as the Chiefs of the Alexander First Nation, Paul First Nation, Enoch Cree Nation, and Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation. Our Nations stand together in asserting our position as both stakeholders and potential investors in Alberta’s emerging data centre value chain. We commend your ambition to position Alberta at the forefront of the global technological revolution, particularly in transformative industries like AI and digital infrastructure.

Alberta’s ambition to lead in the digital economy is timely, as the global demand for data centre capacity, particularly for AI applications, is surging. Hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud operate massive data centres to support AI workloads, with power demands exceeding several hundred hundreds of megawatts and beyond. This underscores the need for jurisdictions like Alberta to offer substantial power capacity to attract and support these large-scale, high-impact investments. We, as Indigenous Communities, embrace this vision and are eager to participate meaningfully in building a world-class data centre industry that creates jobs, generates revenue, and secures long-term prosperity for all our people.

However, we must express our concern that the AESO’s recent announcement of their approach on large load connections will undermine these ambitions. While the release of this allocation methodology is a long-awaited milestone that provides some much-needed clarity, the approach appears fundamentally inconsistent with Alberta’s stated policy objectives of attracting large hyperscalers and catalyzing a data centre industry at scale. In simple terms, Alberta’s current framework is capping our potential at the very moment we should be unleashing it.

The numbers tell a compelling story. Today, there are 29 proposed data centre projects representing over 16 gigawatts of demand seeking grid connections in Alberta. By essentially rationing only 1,200 MW of new capacity among potentially 15 projects, Alberta is rationing opportunity at a time of fierce global competition. This interim 1,200 MW limit – spread across multiple years and projects – falls far short of what is needed to compete for transformative, gigawatt-scale investments.

The hyperscalers “don’t build small”. They think in gigawatts, because their global operations require that scale. Under the current proposal, not even one such flagship project may be fully realized here without years of delay, since 1,200 MW total divided among many projects signals that Alberta isn’t prepared to accommodate a true hyperscaler’s needs. This sends an unintended but clear message to investors that Alberta’s actions do not match its ambitions.

The pro-rata allocation approach will likely disperse this capacity across many smaller initiatives, instead of fostering the significant, large-scale investments that yield substantial economic benefits and enduring value. This risks pitting smaller entities against each other for an insufficient share, rather than empowering established companies with a proven track record in Alberta to make the substantial capital outlays vital for sustained economic growth. It is crucial to acknowledge the significant contributions of generators who have invested billions in Alberta's power infrastructure. Restricting their capacity to leverage these investments for economic expansion jeopardizes the fundamental principles of Alberta's competitive market.

This approach directly contradicts the Government of Alberta's own Data Centre Strategy, which clearly articulates a vision for gigawatt-scale development. The aspiration articulated by Premier Smith and Minister Glubish to attract multi-billion-dollar data centre investments will be unattainable if projects of gigawatt magnitude are severely constrained.

We emphasize that this is not a hypothetical concern – it is a very real and urgent one. There are shovel ready proposals backed by major industry players aligned with government objectives that will be left stranded without a change in proposed policy. Alberta should be a premier destination for hyperscale data centre investment. But strengths only matter if we act on them. Right now, Alberta’s ability to execute and deliver on its promise is in question.

We, the undersigned First Nations, are not bystanders to this discussion – we are ready to be partners in action. We see the growth of the digital infrastructure economy as a generational opportunity to create prosperity and high-value jobs for our people. We have young and growing populations that stand to benefit from training and employment in technology and engineering fields. By working with First Nations as co-creators of this new industry, Alberta can ensure that development is socially responsible, locally supported, and mutually beneficial. Together, we can create a model of partnership that the rest of Canada can look to – one where First Nations and government collaborate to build new engines of prosperity.

In closing, we reaffirm our belief in Alberta’s promise as a leader in the digital economy. The opportunity to attract large hyperscalers and build world-class AI data centres is within our grasp, but it requires bold action. We urge the Government of Alberta to revisit the AESO’s interim methodology and develop a strategy that supports gigawatt-scale data centre development. By doing so, Alberta can secure its position as a global hub for digital innovation, creating lasting prosperity for all Albertans.

Sincerely,

Chief Cody Thomas
Enoch Cree Nation

Chief Tony Alexis
Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation

Chief George Arcand
Alexander First Nation

Chief Casey Bird
Paul First Nation

For media inquiries, please contact Shauna MacDonald at smacdonald@brooklinepr.com

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