Summary

• The Alberta Utilities Commission has rejected a proposal for a massive rural data centre, citing missing information and a lack of public consultation
• The company behind the proposal, Synapse Data Centre, can reapply for approval once it has addressed the commission’s concerns
• One resident who opposed the proposal told The Narwhal she’s happy, but not letting her guard down

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A massive data centre proposed for the town of Olds, Alta., has been rejected by the provincial utilities regulator. 

Synapse Data Centre’s project would have been the largest of its kind in Canada, consuming as much power in a day as the entire city of Edmonton, fed by a 1.4 gigawatt natural gas power plant built to fuel the centre.  

The Alberta Utilities Commission, which regulates power plants in the province, denied the company’s application, citing missing information and a lack of public consultation. 

“The deficiencies include, but are not limited to, errors, insufficient or incomplete information and internal inconsistency among the application documents,” reads the decision, issued on March 6. “Collectively, the deficiencies create a significant lack of clarity as to whether application requirements have been met.”

Residents of Olds expressed concern over the project, worried about a massive power plant and data centre located across the street from homes, as well as the agricultural college and its wetlands and fields. 

Those concerns were not sufficiently addressed, according to the commission. 

It notes the public consultation process started 14 days before the application was submitted for approval, and says information packages lacked details. The company’s application didn’t include key concerns raised by residents or identify how it attempted to mitigate them, for example. 

Environmental impact evaluations were also a concern for the regulator. 

“The environmental evaluation is a draft document with missing information, including incomplete citations, missing figures and document mark-ups including highlighted text,” according to the decision. 

It says environmental evaluations were based on “preliminary desktop data” and “conclusions relating to wildlife and wetlands are made from incomplete field studies conducted during the winter.”

The application further neglected to account for potential noise impacts on residents, including the use of backup diesel generators. 

“Given the number and significance of deficiencies, the commission has concluded that it cannot process the application with the current information in the application, particularly because of the deficiencies in the participant involvement program requirements,” the regulator said.Synapse, however, can reapply for approval once it has addressed the commission’s concerns. 

The company did not immediately respond to an interview request, so it’s not known if this spells the end of the controversial project. Synapse previously said it wanted to start construction as early as this month. 

Janae Johnson is part of a group of residents who banded together to oppose the Synapse project and another data centre proposed for the town by Data District Inc. She told The Narwhal she’s happy about the decision, but she’s not letting her guard down. 

“We are still concerned about Data District Inc, and also know full well that Synapse can reapply once they fulfilled all recommendations from the [Alberta Utilities Commission],”  she said by email. “We are watching closely.” 

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