Hundreds protest Meta's $13 billion AI data centre

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Sturgeon County Centre in Morinville, Alberta, on Sunday, August 2, to protest Meta's planned $13-billion artificial intelligence data centre. The protest, held on a rainy civic holiday weekend, drew local farmers, students, seniors, and other residents who voiced strong opposition to the project's anticipated environmental and economic impacts.

The tech giant announced last month it had selected Sturgeon County, just north of Edmonton, for its first Canadian data centre. The one-gigawatt hyperscale facility is estimated to cost over $13 billion and is expected to be operational within two to three years. Protesters, however, expressed deep concerns about the facility's immense demand for electricity and water for cooling, fearing it will strain local resources and drive up household utility bills.

Jessica Tomashiro, a county resident, highlighted these worries, stating her water and electricity prices are already high and questioning how much higher they could go. The provincial plan calls for the facility to initially draw surplus power from Alberta's grid before transitioning to a dedicated natural gas-fired plant, known as the...