#aidatacentres
LightNews LightNews
jemphatically.bsky.social
It’s nearly the one year anniversary of the Wonder Valley announcement and I’ve been revisiting the events leading up to it, including a look at what else was going on in Alberta politics at the time.
/more

#ableg #cdnpoli #WonderValleyAlberta #AIDataCentres
open.substack.com/pub/jodymacp...
Wonder Valley Watch: A big win, a wonderful thing, a firing and a flight to Florida
This time last year: The launch of an AI data centre dream in northern Alberta
open.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:07 AM
jemphatically.bsky.social
OpenAI is also lobbying Solomon for something called "OpenAI for Countries" raising serious questions about digital sovereignty.
www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

#cdnpoli #AIdatacentres
November 8, 2025 at 6:49 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
“Consumers have sent a clear message: they are paying attention and will hold public officials accountable for decisions that impact their utility bills.”

Two incumbent Republican commissioners voted out.
/more

#AIdatacentres #AIdatacenters #methane #nuclear

heatmap.news/politics/ali...
Democrats Win 2 Key Energy Races in Georgia
A “seismic change” comes for the state’s Public Service Commission.
heatmap.news
November 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
In a wide-ranging letter to the Trump White House, OpenAI laid out a plan to counter China for AI supremacy.

1GW PER WEEK - are they kidding?

/more

I've got a new compiler news story for @theenergymix.com

#AIdatacentres #AIdatacenters

www.theenergymix.com/openai-calls...
OpenAI Calls for 100 GW of New Power Each Year to Secure AI Dominance
Big Tech is charging ahead with mind-boggling new AI data centre plans and demanding unprecedented electricity supply, even as concerns grow about who will bear the grid costs and whether the massive ...
www.theenergymix.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
About 130km driving distance from the proposed #WonderValleyAlberta locals are questioning whether companies should be charged more for the water they're using, with funds to then be directed into better watershed management.
/more

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

#ableg #cdnpoli #AIdatacentres #drought
As water dries up in northeast B.C., some want industry paying more to pump the precious resource | CBC News
Environmental groups are calling on the B.C. government to raise industrial water rates as drought deepens and demand for freshwater rises in some areas of the province.
www.cbc.ca
November 2, 2025 at 8:35 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
Nate Glubish wrote in a local paper in his riding that Wonder Valley was pretty much a done deal. That was a year ago.

And Danielle Smith has declared Alberta will be an "AI superpower." Let’s look at where all that stands in my latest post for TheEnergyMix!

#AIdatacentres #ableg #cdnpoli
October 30, 2025 at 4:47 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
Amazon chose not to include all the ways its data centres use water because it didn’t want to negatively impact its reputation. 🤔

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

#aidatacenters #aidatacentres #water
/more
Amazon strategised about keeping its datacentres’ full water use secret, leaked document shows
Executives at world’s biggest datacenter owner grappled with disclosing information about water used to help power facilities
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:36 PM
spudislander45.bsky.social
#Water use by #AiDataCentres are enormous. In the boom to develop more, there isn’t much oversight. 💦 #Canada needs to pay attention. #cdnpoli

For example, 60 data centres in Phoenix use 670 million litres of water DAILY & created a moratorium on new housing due to #watershortages.
October 22, 2025 at 9:51 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
Lost, but not forgotten. Don’t confuse my ability to get lost, with my determination to find out what is going on with the Wonder Valley project.

I’ve got a new post in my newsletter about my visit to #WonderValley.
/more

open.substack.com/pub/jodymacp...

#AIdatacentres
Touching grass, visiting a river, and a warning from Cancer Alley
A road trip to Wonder Valley - October Edition
open.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:32 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
“Just as petrochemical plants created ‘sacrifice zones’ of poisoned air, contaminated water, and abandoned communities, data centres are now layering a new wave of extraction on top of that history.”

My summary of a new report.
#AIdatacenters #AIdatacentres

www.theenergymix.com/big-techs-ai...
Big Tech’s AI Expansion Revives Legacy of Environmental Racism, Report Warns
Big tech companies are flocking to communities in the southern United States with plans for massive data centres and promises of local benefits, but activists warn the new boom is repeating old harms.
www.theenergymix.com
October 21, 2025 at 10:19 PM
boppinmule.bsky.social
AI-related data centres use vast amounts of water. But gauging how much is a murky business 🤖 #artificial_intelligence #AIdatacentres #datacentrecooling #microsoft www.cbc.ca/news/ai-data...
October 18, 2025 at 6:38 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
Tech companies’ use of Pfas gas at facilities may mean datacenters’ climate impact is worse than previously thought.

/more

#AIdatacenters #AIdatacentres #cdnpoli #ableg #foreverchemicals
#pollution #environment

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Advocates raise alarm over Pfas pollution from datacenters amid AI boom
Tech companies’ use of Pfas gas at facilities may mean datacenters’ climate impact is worse than previously thought
www.theguardian.com
October 5, 2025 at 4:04 AM
jemphatically.bsky.social
We’re like a deer in AI’s headlights.

“So this could get messy.”

More insight from my interview with Amory Lovins, co-founder of RMI group, and many, many others who are sounding the alarm.

#AIdatacentres #ableg #cdnpoli #AIbubble #economics

www.theenergymix.com/as-ai-invest...
As AI Investments Balloon, Experts See a Bubble
Concerns are growing that hyper-inflated investments in artificial intelligence (AI), and the data centres that power it, may be creating an “AI bubble” that’s about to burst and wreak havoc on the ec...
www.theenergymix.com
October 2, 2025 at 4:35 PM
alanfordyce.bsky.social
AI data centres are attracting huge investments, but their high costs raise questions. What factors drive these expenses? Explore the forces behind demand and costs in today’s AI landscape. #AIdatacentres #TechInvestments #AI

Source
September 23, 2025 at 5:34 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
My interview with Amory Lovins about Alberta's self-sabotaging AI data centre strategy made it to the Clean50's LinkedIn list of top five "dumb climate moves of the week."

www.linkedin.com/pulse/dumb-c...

#ableg #cdnpoli

#AIdatacentres #renewables #electricity #gridalerts
Dumb Climate Move-of-the-week!
Welcome to another edition of Dumb Climate Move-of-the-Week… excitingly, as an environmental awards program, we’ve decided it’s only fair to give you, dear readers, the opportunity to vote on who will...
www.linkedin.com
September 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
Founder of RMI, Amory Lovins told me Alberta should consider “applying conservative economic principles, because there's a lot of history showing that it gives better results than picking winners and losers.”
1/2

#ableg #cdnpoli #renewableenergy #AIdatacentres

www.theenergymix.com/albertas-gas...
Alberta’s Gas-Centric Strategy Could Kill Its AI Data Centre Ambitions, Lovins Warns
Alberta’s bid to attract artificial intelligence data centres could be sabotaged by its own energy policies, says RMI co-founder and world renowned energy analyst Amory Lovins.
www.theenergymix.com
September 18, 2025 at 3:46 PM
electricbluesfan.bsky.social
1/8 ALBERTA'S AI DREAMS CLASH WITH RURAL REALITY.

The province wants to be a hub for #AIDataCentres, but a plan for a massive complex northeast of Calgary has been rejected by #RockyViewCounty after fierce opposition from local landowners.

CBC's Rukhsar Ali reports
#ableg #AI #abpoli
September 12, 2025 at 10:36 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
Chief Sheldon Sunshine has a new opinion piece in Maclean's on Alberta separation. 🔥

/more

#ableg #cdnpoli #WonderValley #AIdatacentres #climate #fossilfuels #Indigenous

macleans.ca/politics/a-s...
A Sovereign Alberta Is a Treaty Violation - Macleans.ca
Alberta won’t be able to leave Canada if First Nations have anything to say about it
macleans.ca
September 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
How electricity bills are going to reshape politics in the US.

And beautifully illustrated, to boot.

#uspolitics #AIdatacentres #electricity

time.com/7311613/ai-e...
Backlash to High Electric Bills Could Transform U.S. Politics
Across the U.S., electricity bills are on the rise thanks, in part, to AI data centers. Voters aren't happy about it.
time.com
August 29, 2025 at 4:24 AM
jemphatically.bsky.social
With electricity prices rising at more than double the rate of inflation in the US, AI data centres need to be flexible and energy efficient to keep prices down.

My latest for @theenergymix.com

www.theenergymix.com/google-data-...

#AIdatacentres #DataCentres #electricity #energy #grids #climate
Google Data Centres Turn to Demand Response to Dodge Power Crunch
Amid rising consumer electricity prices in the United States, Google is bucking the artificial intelligence data centre trend of putting pressure on utilities for increasingly more power.
www.theenergymix.com
August 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
A new RMI report warns a “power panic” by utilities may result in overbuilding infrastructure leaving ratepayers to foot the bill.

And several other reports and studies express similar concerns.

www.theenergymix.com/global-arms-...

#AIdatacentres #DataCentres #electricity #energy #grids
‘Global Arms Race’ to Overbuild Data Centres Is Bad News for Ratepayers
A report by a clean energy think tank warns against a “power panic” in the United States as data centre developers pressure utilities to meet demand for electricity that may or may not materialize.
www.theenergymix.com
August 12, 2025 at 6:36 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
I've got another story coming out on data centres.

It's about the "power panic." It's never boring covering this beat.

Meanwhile, here's a photo I took in downtown Calgary in late October, 2024.

#AIdatacentres #DataCentres #electricity #energy #grids #photography #streetphotography #architecture
Photo of the side of a building with many, many windows that are segmented into square panes. Above those is a row of small rectangle windows and in-between is a price ticker marquis electronic sign showing the price of Natural Gas $2.31 US $0.05 with an up arrow, Gasoline $201.28 US $1.08 with an up arrow, Crude $70.62 US $1.40 with an up arrow, Metals Copper $435.85 US $-2.60 with a down arrow. A man in a plaid shirt is riding a bike slightly uphill along the sidewalk beside the building with is lined with trees protected from construction with wood boxes (several painted with graffiti) and an e-scooter parked on the sidewalk. Another row of large rectangle windows can be seen on the top floor of the building which looks like it has a concrete or sandstone exterior. The bottom half of the building has a brown, shiny, tiled exterior that may be marble.
August 11, 2025 at 11:55 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
An endless supply of water and natural gas to burn without consequences, full carbon capture, and it’ll be the world’s most sustainable. Oh, and did I mention that it’s also part of Trump’s strategy for AI dominance?

#cdnpoli #elbowsup #AIDataCentres #drought

open.substack.com/pub/jodymacp...
Wonder Valley Watch: One can't believe impossible things
Update #3: Suspend your disbelief, it's a unicorn, just don't talk about water
open.substack.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:23 AM
excog.bsky.social
◻️

#aIDataCentres
#Water_use_data_centres

"According to a July 2025 investigation by The Austin Chronicle, data centers across Central Texas, including Microsoft and US Army Corps facilities in San Antonio, used a combined 463 million gallons of water in 2023 and 2024"
August 1, 2025 at 5:25 PM
jemphatically.bsky.social
NEW BY ME: AI data centres are turning to onsite power generation - a whopping 27X increase in fully powered onsite since last year. A mix of energy, including fossil fuels, may jeopardize climate targets.

www.theenergymix.com/as-ai-demand...
#AIdatacentres #fossilfuels #climate
As AI Demands Soar, Data Centres Turn to Onsite Power
The rapid rise of onsite power generation at data centres could jeopardize global emissions targets, suggests a new report from industry insiders.
www.theenergymix.com
July 31, 2025 at 3:43 PM