Drew Anderson, who covers oil and gas in Alberta for The Narwhal, broke the story of a leaked document that suggests drastic measures are under consideration by the Alberta government to boost oil and gas production and power AI data centres.
Photo: Gavin John / The Narwhal
The night before I broke a pretty wild story last week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was at a conference in Edmonton promoting AI data centres. Then my story went live on Friday; I’d gotten my hands on a leaked document labelled “cabinet report,” which said the province had some pretty sprawling plans to help attract more data centres and ramp up oil production.
The story caused quite the stir, with Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi holding a press conference about it that very day. He accused Smith of a scheme that’d increase power bills for Albertans “so she can build AI data centres for her foreign billionaire friends.” The story got so much traction that on Saturday Smith addressed it at the top of her radio show, distancing herself from the proposal to create a Crown corporation to build natural gas pipelines — which was outlined in that document.
Within a few days, my reporting had been cited everywhere from The Globe and Mail and CBC to the Calgary Herald and Canadian Press.
In a world in which tech companies and politicians often act with impunity, it is critical to fund journalism that isn’t afraid to make secret documents public, to hold power to account, to not look away.
The reality is there are fewer and fewer reporters in Alberta digging deep to uncover what’s happening with AI data centres and fossil fuels. And I can only dedicate the time and resources that work needs thanks to readers like you who give whatever they can afford to shine a spotlight on powerful people. We need to add 350 new members in the next two weeks, so we can keep breaking such crucial stories. Will you join us?
If you’d asked me a few years ago whether I expected to find myself on the AI data centre beat, I’d probably have said: “What’s an AI data centre?” But these facilities consume massive amounts of electricity and water, making them impossible to ignore. Water comes up again and again as something Albertans are deeply worried about. Just last month, farmers in rural Alberta invited me to cover their worries about how much groundwater is used for fracking in the region.
Building sources on the ground and becoming an expert in these subjects takes time. Scoops like this may seem like they fall out of thin air, but they’re actually built on the back of years of digging. And we can only do that reporting because readers like you support our work.
As the Alberta government considers a host of changes — rewriting laws, building new natural gas pipelines and potentially driving up prices for consumers — we want to keep digging even further, so you’re not left in the dark. But we can’t do it without your help — please join us today.All new members in the next two weeks will get a Narwhal tote bag to show off their support.
Take care and quench your thirst,
Drew Anderson
Prairies reporter
P.S. As a non-profit news organization, The Narwhal’s only goal is holding power to account. We have no shareholders and no corporate overlords. We don’t even have advertisers. We exist solely to serve you: our readers. Pleasegive what you can today so we can keep investigating AI data centres and governments’ plans to boost fossil fuel production.
