AESO proposes short-term limit on power for new large-load data centres amid Alberta's unprecedented demand
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is introducing temporary limit on how many new data centres can be added to the electrical grid, as the province experiences un unprecedented surge of project proposals.
AESO, the independent operator of Alberta's electrical grid, will enable up to 1.2 gigawatts for new large-load data centres in Alberta until 2028. The cap applies to large-load projects that equal or exceed 75 megawatts.
But the 29 proposed projects would demand more than 16 gigawatts combined, a level of demand the province has never experienced, said AESO CEO Aaron Engen.
"Alberta cannot possibly connect all those proposed data centre projects in the short term," said Engen.
"We need to develop an approach to approve data centre connections that, No. 1, don't negatively impact grid reliability; No. 2, that can facilitate data centre investment development as early as [2027-28]."
To illustrate the level of demand Alberta is seeing, AESO noted that the city of Edmonton uses roughly 1.4 gigawatts per day.
AESO added that it believes the additional 1.2 gigawatts could still unlock billions of dollars in investment in data centres.
But Engen said the agency cannot connect new projects if they would compromise the grid's reliability. AESO's limit, he added, is meant to preserve the system's integrity provincewide, while still enabling some data centre development.
"This is a very competitive industry right now and people want to get real estate, want to be built, want to have something operating as soon as possible," Engen said.
"That's why we're talking about just freeing up, if you will, [1.2 gigawatts] of supply for people to get some development today."
Late last year, Alberta Technology Minister Nate Glubish said he hopes to see $100 billion worth of artificial intelligence data centres under construction within the next five years. The centres are typically filled with computer servers used to develop and train large-scale artificial intelligence models.
The Alberta government has also highlighted the province's deregulated electricity market as a draw for operators, who can use it for off-grid power generation.
If the generation is completely off grid, it doesn't come to AESO to facilitate these applications. But Engen agreed that the bring-your-own-generation concept makes perfect sense, and that data centres setting up their own power generation could be a sensible way to develop more projects.
AESO has filtered the number of proposals to 15 through the organization's process for consideration. Rob Davidson, AESO vice president of grid reliability, projects and planning, said more projects could be filtered out over the next month.
"It will be all dependent upon each of those projects' ability to get letters of support from their municipality and produce their financial security," Davidson said.
AESO doesn't know yet how many of the project proposals are for AI, cloud services or cryptocurrency, he said. But before approving them, the organization will need to understand the operations of each centre and how they would impact the grid.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
29 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
5 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Are Worth Over $2 Trillion. Here Are the 2 Most Likely to Join the Club Next.
This section contains press releases and other materials from third parties (including paid content). The Globe and Mail has not reviewed this content. Please see disclaimer. N/A Markets News
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
3 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Still Look Like Long-Term Winners
When you consider whether to invest in a company for the long term, you'll often find that stocks fall into two groups. The first includes stocks of companies that have done well. For those, it's about whether they can continue to perform at a high level. The other consists of flawed stocks, companies facing adversity or potential challenges that may deter investors. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) are three well-known technology stocks representing a mix of both groups. Palantir has been one of the market's biggest winners in artificial intelligence (AI), while investors wonder whether Apple and Alphabet are losing their edge. Here is the skinny on each name and why all three can still be long-term winners. 1. This AI stock continues to defy gravity Palantir Technologies continues to chug higher, racking up a blistering 2,100% gain since 2023. The company has become a leader in developing AI software on its proprietary platforms for government and enterprise customers. And since launching AIP, its AI-focused platform, in mid-2023, Palantir's growth has continued to accelerate. The company still has fewer than 500 commercial customers in the United States, a tiny fraction of the country's 20,000 large corporations. Then, you factor in Palantir's close military ties (government contracts accounted for 55% of revenue in Q1 2025) at a time when America is involved in numerous geopolitical conflicts, and it's easy to envision years of high-speed growth. Despite its best efforts, Palantir's business hasn't kept pace with its share price. The stock has rocketed to a forward P/E ratio of 245, which is excessive, to say the least, for a business expected to compound earnings at an annualized rate of 31% over the long term. Given its growth momentum, both in the government and with commercial customers, Palantir's business appears poised to continue winning. That said, investors will probably want to wait for some significant dips to buy the stock at a more reasonable valuation. 2. Should investors worry about Apple's slow start in AI? AI seemed like a layup for Apple, with a wide-moat ecosystem spanning more than 2.35 billion active iOS devices worldwide. All Apple has needed to do is integrate AI capabilities into its iOS platform, and it would instantly be one of the leading consumer-facing AI companies, if not the leader. Yet Apple has struggled to launch notable AI features smoothly, and its underwhelming rollout of Apple Intelligence, its first attempt at AI, compelled the company to reorganize its AI team. The good news is that Apple's iOS remains one of the stickiest consumer ecosystems, which buys time for Apple to figure things out. People buy Apple products and use them for several years. The devices, whether it's a phone, computer, tablet, or watch, sync and work together. People become accustomed to iOS and develop a commitment to the ecosystem. Users may drift away from Apple eventually if it doesn't figure out AI, but it's unlikely that Apple's user base would implode overnight. Ultimately, Apple is a behemoth, a financial juggernaut with one of the world's most influential brands. While Apple may not deliver the same type of returns as in years past at a $3 trillion market cap, the stock should have a relatively high floor, based on the company's massive stock buybacks, growing dividend, and sticky business model. It's worth the leap of faith that Apple will solve its AI frustrations. 3. Is AI an opportunity or a threat to Google? Google's parent company, Alphabet, is facing some pressure from several directions. AI models have become popular enough to begin siphoning traffic away from traditional search engines, like Google. At the same time, U.S. regulators have successfully pursued litigation against Alphabet for anti-competitive practices, which could result in fines or even forced divestitures that would potentially impact its core advertising business. The adversity has one of the world's most prominent technology stocks trading at a P/E ratio of just 19 today. Yet, AI is arguably more an opportunity than a threat. Alphabet has integrated AI summaries into its search results, successfully monetizing them. Despite all the worries about AI, Google's ad revenue still grew by 10% in Q1 2025. Plus, Google Cloud is growing in size and profitability due to AI boosting demand for cloud services. If that weren't enough, Alphabet's autonomous ride-hailing business, Waymo, is continuing to expand its footprint across the United States and could eventually become a significant piece of Alphabet's business. When you put it all together, it seems that this technology giant will continue to remain a prominent force across the AI and technology space. That's an easy bet to make when the stock trades near its lowest valuation of the past decade. Should you invest $1,000 in Palantir Technologies right now? Before you buy stock in Palantir Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Palantir Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $966,931!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to177%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Your SIN is a 'master key.' Here's why you must protect it
Dave has learned the hard way that you don't want the wrong person getting a hold of your social insurance number. In 2024, he became a victim of identity fraud. Someone used his SIN to open a bank account and get their hands on some quick cash. And while he didn't lose any of his own money, his credit score tanked for a period. "The most frustrating part was being told, 'Hey, there isn't much we could do about this. Your information is on the dark web. It will be used again.' And months later, it was used again," Dave, of Laval, Que., told Cost of Living. Dave isn't his real name. CBC has agreed to identify him by a pseudonym, as police have told him that further exposing his identity could lead to more challenges. Dave was one of 4.2 million Desjardins customers that had their data leaked in 2019. And they aren't the only victims. Over the past few years, customers with Sobeys, Ticketmaster, London Drugs, Nova Scotia Power and the Canada Revenue Agency, to name a few, have had their data breached. And since more businesses and organizations have started asking for social insurance numbers, experts are cautioning people to be very selective about who they share their SIN with. "It's the most sensitive, secret and unique identifier. Essentially, it's the master key to our identity in Canada," said Claudiu Popa, co-founder of KnowledgeFlow Cybersafety Foundation, which advocates for online safety for Canadians. SINs The social insurance number was created with the launch of the Canadian Pension Plan in the 1960s and used to track who was eligible, as well as for various employment insurance programs. According to Popa, there aren't many places that actually need to know it. A new employer needs your SIN, as does your bank and some government agencies, like the CRA. But more organizations are asking for people's SINs. Popa says that includes gyms, landlords, insurance companies and schools. He says none of these places need your SIN, but that doesn't stop them from asking. That's because it's an easy way to check someone's credit with a unique number. But some companies are also using it as an identifier for customers. "It has just become a lazy way of uniquely identifying people, and unfortunately it places people at the risk of privacy breaches," said Popa. So what do you do if someone asks for your SIN? Just say no. But as the cliché goes, that's easier written into a CBC article than done in real life. Just ask Greg Pace. When Pace made a major career change from an RCMP officer to a farmer, he figured it was a good idea to take some classes to gain more knowledge about the new field. But midway through the government-sponsored classes, someone from the program pulled him aside and informed him he hadn't put his SIN in his paperwork. "I felt there was a lot of social pressure to comply. And yet I knew it wasn't the right ask — that they were, I felt, overstepping," said Pace. Pace, whose background as an RCMP officer taught him to be wary of sharing personal information, asked why, but wasn't given a reason. So he refused, and when it became obvious he was no longer welcome, he left the course. Compromised What makes the social insurance number so valuable to fraudsters, compared to a credit card number or bank password? Popa says it's because, unlike other pieces of information, it isn't easy to change. Dave knows that all too well. Just in the past year, fraudsters have tried to open two different bank accounts in his name and have bought multiple iPhones online. And the onslaught of fraud came just as Desjardins' offer of free credit monitoring was running out. It's taken Dave a lot of time to talk to banks, credit bureaus and police to get it all straightened out each time. And it's not just a hassle. It can tank his credit score. "To know that somebody could use … your information in a fraudulent manner, something that you worked so hard to build, is extremely frustrating," said Dave. Since the Desjardins breach, some have requested new SINs. But that doesn't happen often. It requires proof that the number has been used in fraud, not just that the information has been leaked. And fraudsters are clever, Popa says. They'll often wait until their victims' credit monitoring has run out, which is usually public information. In an email to CBC, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) says it takes steps to protect people from having their SIN compromised, including awareness campaigns, fraud prevention resources and secure application processes. It says that if your number is compromised, you should file a police report, notify the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, contact a credit bureau and report it to any affected government programs. It doesn't, however, recommend applying for a new SIN. "Having multiple SINs can increase fraud risk. Getting a new SIN does not erase the old SIN and does not protect it from future abuse," said ESDC spokesperson Saskia Rodenburg. A different method? There is another potential solution: digital IDs. This system would allow you to share only what you want to share and nothing else. "You might have something like a digital wallet that's in your phone, or in your smart tablet," said Joni Brennan, president of the non-profit Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada. One piece of information on the ID could be your verified income, for example, which you would be able to share with whichever person or organization that requires it. This way, she says, you could share only the information that's necessary, or that you want to share. Some regions are taking the necessary steps, like B.C., but don't expect a Canada-wide digital ID anytime soon. That's because provinces have a lot of jurisdiction over credentials. And as that progresses, Brennan says finding ways to protect our SIN needs to be an ongoing conversation. "As we see, new technologies come forward that might create new ways for bad folks to do bad things, [so] the space that's focused on security and protection and privacy needs to continue to evolve, as well."
