• Large businesses and post-secondary institutions could see five-digit utility fee hike if Epcor franchise fee increase approved

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-10-05 21:00:32.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Municipal, Taxation, Finance, Energy]

  The Edmonton City Council utility committee voted to send a proposed increase in the city's franchise fee charged to Epcor from 17.65 per cent to the provincially capped maximum of 20 per cent to the full city council. If approved, the hike takes effect on January 1, 2027, generating an estimated additional $14.8 million for the municipality while increasing monthly utility bills by up to $31,500 for post-secondary institutions, $10,400 for large commercial properties, and $6,250 for hospitals.

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• County of Grande Prairie issues data centre development permit near Sexsmith

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-09-30 18:09:48.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Municipal, Technology, Energy, Infrastructure, Governance]

  The County of Grande Prairie issued a development permit under its 2003 Land Use Bylaw for a new artificial intelligence data centre near Sexsmith in the Emerson Trail area, featuring five buildings measuring 80 by 180 feet and 15 make-up air generator accessory structures measuring eight by 20 feet. Following public pushback from residents regarding transparency and potential impacts on water, noise, and the environment, County Reeve Amanda McDonald announced that future data centre applications meeting right-zoning requirements will now be routed through the Municipal Planning Commission. The underlying land-use redesignation applications for the project site were submitted by Christopher Balderston (CEO of Ground Level Land Corp.), Pamela Balderston, and Ryan Curry (operating as RB Curry Auto Transport), placing the development within Ground Level's planned Redtail Business Park. Although the municipal development permit has been granted, the project remains subject to provincial regulatory agency requirements, such as obtaining an Alberta Energy license, which heavily restricts the municipality's jurisdiction over additional environmental and operational conditions.

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• 'AI is here to stay': Cherry-picking Glubish tells concerned Grande Prairie crowd to call their MLAs about data centres

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-09-17 15:32:29.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Technology, Energy, Environment, Infrastructure, Municipal]

  Approximately 300 residents attended a contentious Sept. 11 town hall in Grande Prairie regarding the proposed 65-square-kilometre Wonder Valley AI data centre project backed by Kevin O'Leary. Alberta's Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Glubish, defended the initiative by stating artificial intelligence is here to stay and pointing to a closed cooling system meant to mitigate water use from the Smoky River. However, local participants and critics, including resident Casey Klein and SAIT research scientist Dr. Robert Davies, raised concerns that the facility—which holds interim and preliminary municipal licences to draw up to 6 million and 24 million cubic metres of water annually—would impose cumulative environmental impacts through thermal energy emissions, low-frequency fan noise, and heavy resource exploitation within the Municipal District of Greenview and the Peace Country Region.

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