CALGARY — DAVID PICKUP, Director of the Pembina Institute’s Electricity Program, made the following statement in response to Ontario’s announcement of its draft Data Centre Playbook:
“The rapid growth in data centre development in North America underscores the critical importance of both responsible development and robust electricity planning to keep electricity rates and emissions low. Ontario’s success will ultimately be measured by whether it can prevent higher electricity rates and increased emissions as new power demand is brought onto the provincial grid.
It is encouraging to see the province recognize that for data centres to advance, they must bring value to host communities and the grid while enabling economic development. The expansion of clean and flexible energy resources will be key to making this a reality.
There are emerging examples of how data centres can be built to keep impacts low and, ultimately, maximize benefits to local communities. Achieving similar positive outcomes will require decision-makers to build a strategy that considers full system impacts and explores the full range of available solutions to support the responsible development of this new infrastructure.
We look forward to engaging with the Ontario government to ensure data centres are built responsibly and create a reliable, affordable, and efficient electricity system for all.”
Quick Facts
- Given the pace and scale of data centre development interest globally, many new regulatory frameworks and best practices are being proposed and developed. These could provide useful insight as Ontario explores its own strategy. Examples include:
- Electric Power Research Institute’s DCFlex Initiative
- Regulatory Assistance Project’s Data Centres and the Next Era of Energy Regulation series
- Southwest Power Pool’s High Impact Large Load Interconnection Solutions
- Urban Climate Leadership’s Hot Servers, Cool Communities findings
- Clean Energy Council’s Powering the Digital Economy report
- Climate Cabinet Education’s Taming Data Centre Turmoil vision document
Contact
Senior Communications Lead
587-742-0818
Background
Submission: What’s the best way to power Alberta’s growing data centre sector?
