In her latest mandate letter to Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf, Premier Danielle Smith said data centres in the province with “bring your own power” generation facilities would be eligible for faster approvals. (The Logic)

Talking point: Alberta is anticipating a sharp increase in electricity demand from AI data centres. Smith’s government is marketing the province as an ideal location for Silicon Valley tech firms to build the hardware needed to train and run their AI models. While no company has officially announced plans to build such a project, The Logic has reported that Meta and Calgary’s Pembina Pipeline were in talks to finalize a deal. Building those power-hungry data centres could strain the province’s electricity network, however, and Smith’s mandate letter said the effort to fast-track projects should be done “while ensuring the integrity and reliability of Alberta’s power grid.”