‘A lot of tough questions’: Companies behind Saint John data centre hear residents’ concerns

Dozens of Lorneville, N.B., residents criticized the Saint John Industrial Park at an open house meeting.

It was standing room only at the Lorneville Community Centre just outside Saint John, N.B., Wednesday night for an open house on a purposed AI data centre that may be built within the Spruce Lake Industrial Park.

For around two hours, officials with VoltaGrid LLC (VoltaGrid), which operates out of Texas, and Beacon AI Centres (Beacon), based out of Calgary, took time to answer questions from the public about what the project would look like in their community.

The night began with residents walking around and viewing different prepared boards to learn more about the project.

It would be built on a 120-hectare parcel of land within the industrial park, which was expanded after a lengthy rezoning process this past summer. The plan was approved despite a major push back from Lorneville residents.

Power for the data centre would be drawn from an NB Power grid as well as through an on-site natural gas-fueled generator.

‘An entrepreneur’s dream’

Nathan Ough is the president and CEO of VoltaGrid and was born and raised in Saint John. He says the community raised many good points during the discussion and believes the company is in a better position moving forward after hearing their concerns.

“I would say that this one had the highest attendance and the most quantity of feedback for us,” says Ough. “It’s something that we’re actually going to enjoy going through and actually work in the process to identify those and close as many gaps as we possibly can.”

Ough says the project is a huge opportunity for Saint John and the entire province, citing the fact that 70 per cent of the nation’s data runs through the United States.

“Data centres are critical pieces of infrastructure that enable a wide range of technology, including AI, cloud computing, and government databases,” reads a press release sent to residents ahead of the open house. “An AI data centre houses thousands of advanced computer processors. Together they act like a supercomputer that can analyze massive amounts of information, allowing AI to learn, make predictions, and support new discoveries.”

The tension in the room could easily be felt Wednesday night, with the majority of residents having a bit of unease with the entire project after numerous talks with the city about the industrial park expansion. During those talks, residents said they felt they were never actually heard.

Knowing that, Ough wants to work with the community to make the project a “win” for everyone.

“This is like an entrepreneur’s dream,” says Ough on the thoughts of bringing the centre to his hometown. “This is a $2 billion investment for the region that, assuming all the stars aligned, we’ll start putting capital to the ground here over the next 12 months. For me, super proud Saint Johnner, super proud Canadian and New Brunswicker… I really do in my heart hope that this goes.”

The project is still pending an environmental impact assessment (EIA). If approved, the companies hope to have the site operational by early 2028. The construction phase of the project would see over 1,300 jobs needed and, once completed, the facility will have 210 operational jobs.

“It was tough and there were a lot of tough questions,” says Saint John Industrial Park’s general manager, Ian MacKinnon. “I think Beacon and VoltaGrid both handled it well, they answered honestly, transparently, and when they didn’t have the answers, they said they would get the answers.”

The data centre is the first purposed project to be announced for the expanded land of the Spruce Lake Industrial Park. MacKinnon says the city is in discussion with other companies interested in a parcel of land within the expanded park, but would not comment on specifics.

Residents’ thoughts

Residents of Lorneville came prepared with a list of questions to ask the company officials.

Nicole Wolters was one of those residents.

“There was still tension in the air by the end of the closing statements,” says Wolters. “I appreciate them coming out, I appreciate them trying to make amends with, or at least try, to smooth things over, but I think the community is still going to fight.”

Over the past 14 months, residents have been raising their concerns about the impacts the expanded industrial park will have on their community. Drinking water, a limited buffer zone between homes, industrial activity, and the destruction of one of the province’s oldest growth forests, are among the top concerns.

Resident Adam Wilkins, who is also one the leaders of the Save Lorneville movement, says he is very appreciative of Beacon and VoltaGrid making an effort to engage with the community.

“There was zero pushback on wanting to have us all sit down and ask questions in a respectful manner,” he says. “That was really appreciated and they actually said how well that went for engagement.”

He says the evening did answer a lot of questions, and he is encouraged by the two companies saying they will keep the community up to date on things.

But Wilkins is quick to point out that words must be followed by actions, and he is looking forward to what comes next.

“They’re coming in with 50-plus years of issues with this community that they have had with all levels of government,” points out Wilkins. “That’s not VoltaGrid’s fault, that’s not Beacon AI’s fault, but it’s something they have to navigate and deal with, and we’ll see how that goes.”

Leah Alexander led the questioning through much of the evening. She feels there are a lot of details still to be revealed, like the project’s footprint size, or how many buildings are in the project.

“There’s nothing really to go on right now because we still don’t know the size of this project, we still don’t know the exact location, we still don’t know the exact buffer zone of where a building will be to our houses, so just continuing to engage with the proponent and try to get those answers,” Alexander says.

The Save Lorneville group has submitted a judicial review of the process to rezone the area in the Spruce Lake Industrial Park on the basis city staff and councillors had already decided the industrial park expansion’s fate before then process even began back in 2024.

When asked if Lorneville residents would simply fight anything to do with the Spruce Lake park expansion, Wilkins reiterated residents have never been against economic development.

“The people in the greater community that are saying that haven’t been the people that’s been through this process and how unfair and kind of steamroller it’s been,” Wilkins said ahead of the meeting. “Everything that’s been done is just based on optics to make it seem like there has been that engagement, but there hasn’t been.”

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.