By the numbers
The following figures bring together key facts you might have heard from the news, from press releases, from industry, and from the government. These tables provide clear, cited sources for further reading and review.
Table 1 · Alberta's data centre footprint today
| Figure | What it counts, exactly | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 facilities | Named data centre facilities GLJ Ltd. identified as operating in Alberta. The list primarily covers publicly identifiable commercial colocation, cloud/hosting and telecommunications facilities, with at least one dedicated compute facility. It is not a comprehensive census of private enterprise, hyperscale, AI/HPC, cryptocurrency or edge facilities. | GLJ Alberta data centre status | Mar 26, 2025 |
Table 2 · The grid
| Figure | What it counts, exactly | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23,393 MW | Maximum capability of the total installed generation capacity connected to Alberta's grid. | AESO | Jul 30, 2026 |
| 12,785 MW | Record winter and overall peak Alberta Internal Load (AIL), the most power Alberta has ever used in one hour, set December 11, 2025. | AESO annual market statistics | Dec 2025 |
| 1,200 MW | The AESO's interim limit for new large-load grid connections (Phase 1), now fully allocated. | AESO large load projects | 2025 |
| ~19,565 MW | New data centre load seeking a connection on the AESO's large-load connection list. Requests are not approvals; the figure moves every quarter. | AESO connection project dashboard | Jul 30, 2026 |
Table 3 · The Sturgeon County project (Meta)
| Figure | What it counts, exactly | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| $13 billion+ | Meta's investment in the data centre facility. Excludes the AI chips inside and excludes the power plant. | Meta announcement | Jul 8, 2026 |
| $4.6 billion | The Greenlight Electricity Centre gas power plant, built by Pembina, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor. | Pembina final investment decision (FID) release | Jul 2, 2026 |
| 932 MW | Greenlight plant generating capacity (nameplate, its rated maximum output). Distinct from the 970 MW grid allocation and the 1,800 MW campus draw below. | Pembina FID release | Jul 2, 2026 |
| 970 MW | Meta's AESO-approved Phase 1 load allocation. | GoA release | Jul 2026 |
| 250 MW | Long-term (more than 10 years) energy supply agreement between Meta and Capital Power. | Capital Power release | Jul 8, 2026 |
| 1,750 acres | Campus site in Alberta's Industrial Heartland, with about 2.9 million square feet of facility space. Meta's 33rd data centre worldwide and its first in Canada. | Meta announcement | Jul 8, 2026 |
| 1,800 MW | Campus power draw at full build-out (grid plus on-site generation over time). | GoA release | Jul 2026 |
| ~150 MMcf/day | Natural gas the Greenlight plant will consume daily. | Pembina FID release | Jul 2, 2026 |
| 3,000+ / 300 | Construction jobs at peak / permanent operating jobs. | Meta + GoA releases | Jul 2026 |
| ~$250M / year | Expected annual flow to Albertans from the project: royalties, taxes, levies and transmission fees. | GoA release | Jul 2026 |
| ~$196.8M / year | Meta's annual transmission fees, paid like any large industrial customer; rounded elsewhere on this site to nearly $200 million. Estimated at 970 MW of demand transmission service (DTS), 90 per cent load factor, AESO default pool price. | AESO 2026 bill calculator estimate | Jul 2026 |
| Up to 6% | Expected decrease in the transmission portion of household bills from Meta's fees. Transmission line item only, never the whole bill. | GoA release | Jul 2026 |
| < 1 golf course | Meta's statement that the campus will use less water annually than a typical golf course. This is Meta's own comparison for its Sturgeon County campus. | Meta announcement | Jul 8, 2026 |
| ~$60 million | Local road and water infrastructure committed in Sturgeon County. | Meta announcement materials | Jul 2026 |
| $40M+ / year | Sturgeon County mayor's estimate of annual property taxes from the project (upwards of $40 million). | Mayor's public statement | 2026 |
Table 4 · The rules
| Figure | What it counts, exactly | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 2% | The data centre levy on the value of computing equipment, fully deductible against Alberta corporate income taxes to minimize impacts on competitiveness. | Statute (Corporate Tax Act Part 9.1); Budget 2026 | 2026 |
| Since 2006 | Closure of the Bow, Oldman and South Saskatchewan sub-basins to new surface water licences. | SSRB water management plan | 2006 |
| Up to 10% | Water licence transfer holdback for environmental flows. | Water Act (transfer holdback guide) | Current |
| Rule 012 | AUC noise rules setting enforceable sound limits at the nearest dwellings. | AUC Rule 012 (Noise Control) | Current |
| 2.6M gal/MW/yr | Conventional cooling-tower water use, versus near zero for fully liquid-cooled dry-cooler designs (45°C coolant). | NVIDIA blog | Jun 21, 2026 |
| Up to 40% | Historical share of a data centre's electricity consumed by cooling. | McKinsey, cited by NVIDIA | 2026 |
Table 5 · The process saying no
| Date | What happened | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | Rocky View County council voted no to the Area Structure Plan and land use re-designation for a proposed 1,100-acre data centre campus with potential on-site power generation; without that approval, the project could not proceed there. Decision made September 9, 2025; county record published September 10, 2025. | Rocky View County council decisions · media | Sep 9, 2025 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | The AUC closed a data centre power plant application for failing to meet filing requirements; resubmitted April 3, 2026. | AUC closure letter (PDF) | 2026 |
Table 6 · The economics
| Figure | What it counts, exactly | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| US$15.7 trillion | PwC's estimate of AI's potential addition to the global economy by 2030. | PwC Global AI Report (Sizing the Prize) | 2017 |
| ~60% | Alberta's share of Canada's natural gas production. | Canada Energy Regulator | Current |
| ~1,000x | A $2 gigajoule of Alberta gas becomes roughly $2,100 of AI output. | Studio Energy analysis | Jul 17, 2026 |
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