The digital asset industry is ‘the wave of the future,’ but is Alberta ready for it in the present?

Cables are seen in crypto currency mining computers are seen in Istvan Tajti's office in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday, 31. January 2018. Photo: Akos Stiller (Akos Stiller/Bloomberg)

Alberta is pitching itself as a top destination for the digital asset industry, though some question if it’s ready to do so.

Technology Minister Nate Glubish announced a new strategy in 2024 to try and bring $100 billion worth of artificial intelligence (AI) data centres to the province within five years.

But, while this growing industry offers the province an opportunity to diversify its natural gas market, critics argue there isn’t a robust enough plan in place ahead of the desired boom.

The digital asset industry includes block chain, cryptocurrency mining and data centres, which use large amounts of electricity to run the complex computing systems needed to mine cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, or power AI for companies like Google.

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In December, the Royal Bank of Canada’s Climate Action Institute released a report finding if all proposed data centres in Canada at that time were approved, they would account for 14 per cent of the country’s total power needs by 2030.

A study by the United Nations University, published in the Earth’s Future journal, found global Bitcoin mining alone consumed more than 173 TWh between 2020 and 2021 – more than most countries.

In Alberta, the digital asset industry is predominantly powered by natural gas and is well underway. Invest Alberta reports data centres in the province generated about $1.3 billion in revenue in 2023, reflecting an annual growth rate of 7.7 per cent since 2018.

And revenue is poised to grow with a number of big projects on the books, including the $2.8-billion, 1.4 GW (gigawatt) Wonder Valley AI data centre in Grande Prairie – touted as the world’s largest – and five 400-MW (megawatt) Beacon AI centres across the province, with one near Calgary estimated to cost $4 billion.

In Fox Creek, global data centre giant Bitdeer is planning a new US$120-million 101 MW Bitcoin mining centre, which according to consulting firm TwelveSix Services, will be the largest crypto mining centre in Canada.

Blake Fikowski, with TwelveSix Services, said Alberta’s deregulated energy system and cheap natural gas make it an attractive destination for digital asset companies.

It’s a relationship that provides benefits both ways, he added.

“The biggest opportunity for our province and our energy producers is to think about being into this game in a meaningful way,” Fikowski said. “It’s an opportunity to sell our natural gas down fiber lines instead of pipelines we can’t get built.”

“You’re going to take the natural gas, you’re going to convert it into electricity, you’re going to utilize that electricity to have (computing power), and you’re selling your gas on site.”

The grid

The digital asset industry requires vast amounts of electricity to operate, something that has led other jurisdictions to put limits on it over grid capacity and affordability concerns.

In 2021, China put in a ban on cryptocurrency mining over environmental, financial and consumer protection concerns. Russia has also banned the practice in energy-scare regions.

Both B.C. and Manitoba paused new connections for crypto mines in 2022 over questions around the economic return of the energy-intensive practice, and New Brunswick followed the next year.

Fikowski said power-grid concerns in other jurisdictions are negated by Alberta’s stranded gas assets, which companies can use to produce the electricity they need.

In times when the grid is under strain, he added, those companies could even help boost supply.

“They’re generating power for their own use,” he said, “but they’ll have a certain percentage of flexibility where it’s really an economic decision to sell power to the grid … it will be a benefit to the whole province, because it will be, ‘Oh, prices are going up. Here’s supply.’”

Fikowski said it makes more financial sense for companies to create their own electricity, but the province said they don’t have to.

“AI and cryptocurrency data centres can purchase power from Alberta’s electricity grid,” Glubish’s office said in a statement. “However, due to their substantial power demands, these centres must undergo a formal connection process managed by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO).”

The current digital asset proposals on Major Projects Alberta would take the industry from its current electrical load of about 140 MW to upwards of 13 GW in the next decade.

The province maintains the grid will be able to handle the influx, despite there being no current limit on how much power a data centre could buy from the existing grid.

According to the province, data centres are assessed by the AESO to ensure they don’t strain existing infrastructure or grid stability. Large consumers, like data centres, are also required to pay for grid maintenance or needed infrastructure upgrades.

Glubish’s office did not specify how the AESO or province would prevent increased electricity demands from raising prices for consumers.

“Alberta will evaluate both off-grid and grid-connected power solutions that avoid compromising the affordability and reliability of electricity for Albertans and local industries,” his office said.

“Alberta’s government is currently developing a Blockchain Roadmap to provide a path forward to support the further growth and development of the blockchain and crypto sectors.”

‘The cart before the horse’

Nathan Ip, Alberta NDP shadow minister for technology and innovation, supports expanding the digital asset industry, but said the province should have already had robust plans in place before it started pitching investors.

“(These technologies are) very much the wave of the future …. And I think that presents an opportunity for Alberta to position itself as a leader,” Ip said. “There’s a way to do it, and what we’ve seen from this government, unfortunately, is that there doesn’t seem to be a plan there.”

Ip said there hasn’t been clear communication from the United Conservative Party government on how the industry will fit into Alberta’s energy landscape in terms of the vast electricity and infrastructure needs.

Kara Westerlund, Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) president, agrees.

“We’re excited and we want to support innovation, but we also need some clear rules,” Westerlund said. “We know the industry is growing fairly rapidly right now, but it’s moving a little bit quicker than policy … there’s no comprehensive framework guiding what these developments are going to look like.”

Westerlund said noise has been a big concern in some municipalities, as have questions around sustainable development and land use.

“(These companies are) competing with oil and gas, agricultural operations, wildlife habitats and residential zoning, too,” she said.

Jason Unger, a lawyer with the Environmental Law Centre, explained that the use of gas- or diesel-powered generators to power crypto mines on leased land have already caused issues.

In Rocky View County, a landowner spent years in court after an oil and gas company set up an unauthorized crypto mine on leased land, which the landowner said was noisy and violated the terms of the lease agreement.

“Certain industry players have taken advantage of the Alberta system a little bit in terms of setting up shops and setting up gas-powered generators and piggybacking on old gas leases,” Unger said.

“It’s kind of an evolving area,” he added. “The challenge is in this interim period, it’s kind of left to the landowner to deal with in a way where if it was properly planned and regulated from the front end, then you wouldn’t have to have the landowner fighting.”

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Ip claims consultation has also been lacking, as in the case with Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, which sent an open letter to the premier in January asking the province to halt plans for the Wonder Valley AI centre over water and land concerns.

“Chief Sunshine has come out to say, ‘We haven’t heard from the government about this at all,’” Ip said. “This is a perfect example of how this government typically operates, which is, we’re going to put the cart before the horse.

“We’re going to announce something and figure it out later, and that isn’t going to work in this case. It’s not going to position us as leaders.”

The RMA would like a seat at the table as well, Westerlund added.

“We’re in a very unique opportunity to become a leader in this type of sector, but we need to do it right,” she added. “That means engaging with rural municipalities early and ensuring there’s shared benefits in creating clear, enforceable rules that protect our communities.”

Oversight

Neither the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) nor the Alberta Energy Regulator could say how many crypto mines or data centres there were in Alberta, saying they do not oversee or regulate the industry.

Glubish’s office did not answer when asked how the province is keeping tabs on digital asset companies, but said industry data estimates there are close to 50, with more than half of those established in the last fix or six years.

The province did say that data centres must apply to all provincial rules and regulations, including the Water Act, the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, as well as the Emissions Reduction Regulation where applicable.

Unger said that “mixed regulatory picture” could lead to problems.

“If the AUC authorizes a power plant, that doesn’t mean it’s authorizing the development permit of a Bitcoin mining operation,” Unger said.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean the water use or the other requirements of the mining operation, separate from the power plant, are somehow included in that.”

“(Companies are) kind of playing in this area where they should be getting all the regulatory approvals from the various jurisdictions and agencies, and yet that doesn’t necessarily happen as it should,” he added.

Unger would like to see more clarity around the “suite” of regulatory approvals required by companies, as well as more enforcement from the province.

“The overall regulatory framework, I think, needs to be emphasized and clarified,” he said. Particularly for the rights of landowners and protection of their property rights."

The province said it will “always put the well-being of Albertans first” and that it has developed a concierge program to help streamline the regulatory process for data centres and crypto mining companies.

“While there is no explicit regulatory framework for the digital asset industry in Alberta, there are specific legislative and regulatory requirements for electricity generation for on-site consumption,” the province said. “Ultimately, all proposed and existing operations, including those in the blockchain, crypto and data centre space, are required to be in compliance with rules set out by Alberta’s regulators, including the AUC.”

According to global management firm McKinsey and Company, the AI boom could more than triple global demand for data centre capacity by 2030.

It makes sense Alberta wants to be a part of that and cash in on natural gas assets that can’t always find their way to market via pipeline.

“It would be a missed opportunity if we governments weren’t prepared or weren’t positioned to be able to tackle this way for the future, so I don’t think there’s misalignment there.”

“I think the question is, how do we do it?”

With files from the Canadian Press