The Noise, Water, and Electricity layers are estimated projections based on publicly available research and industry benchmarks. They are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute professional engineering, environmental, or regulatory assessments.
These projections must not be used for:
Legal proceedings or regulatory submissions
Investment, business, or financial decisions
Land use planning or development approvals
Any purpose requiring professional assessment
Methodology
Noise: Zones based on typical data centre noise of 70–96 dB at source, free-field decay of ~6 dB per doubling of distance. Infrasound (below 20 Hz) reported beyond audible range. WHO residential limit: 45 dB day / 40 dB night.
🔊 "What it might sound like" demo: The audio you can play from each noise zone is a synthesized illustration — not a real recording, measurement, or prediction for any specific site. It's built to give a rough sense of how low-frequency hum and broadband mechanical/cooling noise can change with distance (quieter, more muffled, shifting toward infrasound as you move farther away), based on the general dB ranges and decay assumptions described above. Treat it as a feel-for-scale aid only, not as evidence of what any particular community would actually hear.
Water: Uses Wonder Valley's publicly stated approved permit of 6 million m³/year (Smoky River). Preliminary AUC certificate: up to 24 million m³/year. City consumption calculated at 250 L/person/day (Statistics Canada average).
Electricity: Based on published GW capacity × 8,760 hrs/year. City consumption estimated at 15,000 kWh/person/year (Stats Canada 2022). Alberta total: ~100 TWh/year (AESO 2024).
Jobs (long-term): Permanent/operational job figures are company- and government-stated estimates from project filings, news coverage, and municipal releases (figures vary by source and project phase — treated here as rough order-of-magnitude only). Construction-phase jobs are temporary and shown for context. City workforce estimated at ~50% of population (Stats Canada labour force participation average). For the 5 sites added June 2026 (Wild Rose Power Hub, AHI Hub of Innovation, eStruxture CAL-3, Beacon Foothills AI Hub, Clive Power & Data Centre), published job figures were not available for all — figures shown are rough estimates scaled from comparable proposals of similar MW/footprint, for illustrative comparison only.
💰 Economic benefit: Capital-investment figures ($70B, $24B est., $12B, $4B, $10B) are company- and government-stated amounts from public project announcements and news coverage — see sources below. The "rough est. annual tax revenue" figure is NOT an official projection for any project; it applies a generic, commonly cited industry rule of thumb (roughly $3–6M in annual local/property tax revenue per $1B invested) to each proposal's stated investment, purely to illustrate order of magnitude. Actual revenue depends on assessment methods, incentive agreements, and revenue-sharing arrangements not modelled here.
💨 Air quality / emissions: "Concern level" reflects how much has been independently reported or established through regulatory review for that SPECIFIC proposal — it is not a measured pollution reading and not a ranking of which project is "worse." Wonder Valley's figures come from Canada's National Observer's reporting of an estimated ~30 megatonnes CO₂e/yr at full build-out (depending on technology/mitigation) and CBC's confirmation that the project is exempt from a full provincial Environmental Impact Assessment. Synapse Olds' record draws on CBC's reporting that the AUC rejected its proposed 1.4 GW natural-gas power-plant application, citing significant deficiencies including an incomplete environmental evaluation. For Beacon AI Hub, no on-site generation method or emissions estimate has been publicly disclosed as of June 2026. The general health-effects context (NOₓ, PM2.5 from gas/diesel generation) draws on independent research from Inside Climate News and the Piedmont Environmental Council on data centres elsewhere — included for general industry context, not as a claim about any specific Alberta proposal.
Statistics Canada 2021 Census — municipal areas & populations
Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) — provincial electricity data
WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines (2018)
This visualization was created for public information and educational purposes as of June 2026. The creator accepts no liability for any decisions made based on information presented herein. All projections are estimates that may become outdated as projects evolve. By proceeding you acknowledge these limitations.
Make your voice heard — contact officials
These proposals go through provincial regulators, cabinet ministries, and local councils — all of whom take public input seriously. Below are the offices most relevant to the projects shown on this map, grouped by who they are and which proposals they cover. We don't guess at personal email addresses. Where an office publishes a general email, it's included; otherwise click "Contact page" to find the current, correct address or web form. "Draft email" opens a ready-to-edit message in your own email app — you review, personalize, and send it yourself. Nothing is ever sent on your behalf.
⚖️ Formally registering a concern with the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC)
For projects that involve AUC review (e.g., proposed power-generation facilities tied to a data-centre project), the AUC accepts a Statement of Intent to Participate (SIP) from members of the public who want their concerns formally on the record for a specific proceeding. In general, the process works like this:
Go to auc.ab.ca (a desktop/laptop browser is easier to use than a phone for this).
Find "Access to the eFiling System" and create a new personal account, then confirm it via the email link the AUC sends you.
Log in and continue to eFiling.
Use the "Go To" search to find the proceeding number for the specific project you want to comment on (proceeding numbers are unique to each application — there is no single number that covers every project on this map; search the AUC's proceeding list or e‑Filing system for the project nearest you, or ask the AUC directly which proceeding applies).
Click "Register" to participate, acknowledge the AUC's privacy policy, and select "Intervener" as your registration type.
Fill in the Statement of Intent to Participate explaining your interest/concerns, and save to submit.
A Statement of Intent to Participate is generally used to explain why a proposed facility (e.g., a data centre and/or an associated power plant) raises concerns for you — for example, proximity to a community, agricultural land, water sources, or local infrastructure. Per the AUC's own guidance, you typically do not need to live within any specific buffer distance of a project to file a SIP.
This is a general summary of a public regulatory process — it is not legal advice, and the steps, screens, and proceeding numbers can change. Always confirm the current process and the correct proceeding number for your project of interest directly on auc.ab.ca before relying on it.
Names and contact details verified June 2026 from each organization's official website. Offices, staff, and emails change over time — always confirm via the linked contact page before relying on an address shown here.
How this map works — 3 steps
1. Pick your town or cityThe "Centre on" dropdown moves the map to your community (or to a data‑centre proposal's own real site) and shows local stats — population, area, current water & electricity use.
2. Pick a proposal to compareThe "Compare against" dropdown overlays one project's footprint and key figures on top of your community, so you can see the size and scale side by side. Each proposal is shown on its own — figures from different proposals are never combined or summed.
3. Toggle the layersUse the buttons (Footprint, Jobs, Water, Electricity, Air quality, Sound) to explore different angles. Every figure is sourced from public company/government announcements or, where nothing has been disclosed, marked "not publicly disclosed."
Tip: use View as table to see all 13 proposals at a glance.
Glossary
MW (Megawatt)
A unit of power. 1 MW ≈ enough electricity to power roughly 750–1,000 average Alberta homes at once. Data centres are often described by their planned power draw in MW.
GWh (Gigawatt‑hour)
A unit of energy used over time (1 GWh = 1,000 MWh). Used here to compare a proposal's estimated annual electricity use to a community's.
dB (Decibel)
A measure of sound level. Roughly: 40 dB ≈ a quiet library, 55–65 dB ≈ a normal conversation/busy office, 65+ dB ≈ a vacuum cleaner up close. The sound demo on this map is a synthesized illustration, not a real recording.
m³/yr (Cubic metres per year)
A measure of water volume used over a year — used to compare a proposal's estimated water use to a community's residential use.
AUC (Alberta Utilities Commission)
The provincial regulator that reviews and approves major power-generation and transmission projects in Alberta, including on‑site generation proposed by some data centres.
EPEA
The Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act — Alberta's main environmental-approvals law; projects with significant emissions or water use may require an EPEA approval.
ASP (Area Structure Plan)
A municipal land-use planning document that guides how a parcel of land may be developed — often the stage where local councils and residents weigh in on a proposal.
Footprint
The physical land area (in km²) a proposal expects to occupy — shown on the map as a shaded shape so you can compare its size to your community.
"Not publicly disclosed"
Used throughout this map when a company or government body has not released a figure (e.g., investment amount, air-quality plan) as of the date shown — it does not imply one doesn't exist, only that it hasn't been published.
❔ Frequently asked questions
Is this an official government or company map?No. This is an independent, informational comparison built from public announcements, news coverage, and government/regulatory filings. It is not affiliated with any of the companies, municipalities, or regulators shown.
Where do the numbers come from?Each figure is attributed to its source where possible (company announcements, municipal planning documents, regulatory filings, news reporting). Where no figure has been publicly released, it's marked "not publicly disclosed" rather than estimated or guessed.
Why do some proposals show "not publicly disclosed" for investment or air quality?Because, as of the date shown, no figure or plan for that item had been made public for that specific proposal. This map does not fill gaps with assumptions.
Is the "what it might sound like" demo a real recording?No — it's a synthesized illustration built to approximate the kind of low-frequency hum and broadband noise that large mechanical/cooling equipment can produce at different distances. It's offered as a rough sense of scale, not a measurement or prediction for any specific site.
Can I compare more than one proposal at a time?By design, no — figures from different proposals are shown one at a time and never combined or summed, since stacking unrelated projects' numbers together would be misleading. You can switch between proposals using the "Compare against" dropdown to see each on its own.
I think something here is inaccurate or out of date — how do I flag it?Use the "Contact" feature in the toolbar, or reach out via the contact details for the relevant regulator/municipality shown there. This map will be updated as new public information becomes available.
Is anyone tracking data centres outside Alberta too?Yes — in the U.S., reporter/activist Erin Brockovich launched a public "AI Data Center Reporting Map" (brockovichdatacenter.com, April 2026) where communities can report concerns; reporting on it has highlighted that many U.S. projects cluster in already drought-prone regions. The 💧 Water layer on this map now includes a note on which Alberta river basin each proposal sits in, including whether it's in the part of southern Alberta that's been closed to new water licences since 2006.
Why isn't every Alberta AI data-centre proposal shown here?Because AESO's connection queue alone reportedly holds 30+ large-load applications — but most are listed only by project code and megawatt figure, with no developer name, site, or footprint attached. Putting a project on this map means drawing it at a real location and a real size, so the bar for inclusion is: a named developer, a locatable site, and enough public reporting to compare it responsibly — the same "don't fill gaps with assumptions" rule the figures follow. Two named, increasingly-documented projects that don't yet clear that bar are GLDC Load ("Greenlight," a Pembina Pipeline–Kineticor joint venture northeast of Edmonton in Alberta's Industrial Heartland, AESO-allocated 970 MW) and TransAlta's Keephills Data Centre (Parkland County, west of Edmonton, ~230 MW initial agreement with CPP Investments and Brookfield, announced Feb. 2026) — both are real and well-sourced, but neither has published a site plan or footprint size yet, so there's nothing to draw to scale. They're strong candidates to be added once that information becomes public. (Also worth noting: a roughly 1,100-acre Kineticor/eStruxture data-centre campus proposed for northeast Rocky View County was rejected 6–1 by county council in early 2026 after a lengthy public hearing — a different, since-abandoned proposal from the ones tracked here.)
🎈 Fun fact — why does this map even exist?It started as a one-person curiosity project: someone wanted to see how the proposed Wonder Valley data centre would actually compare to the size of their own town — and was genuinely taken aback by how much bigger it looked once it was drawn to scale on a real map, rather than just read as a number on a page. That "wait, it's THAT big?" moment is the whole reason this tool exists — so anyone else can drop their own community onto the map and see the comparison for themselves, instead of just taking someone's word for it.
What's changed
June 2026
Expanded from 5 to 13 tracked proposals; added a zone-based "what it might sound like" demo (near / moderate / infrasound distance ranges); added the ability to centre the map on a proposal's own real site (not just nearby towns); added air-quality and economic-benefit (jobs/water/electricity) comparison layers; added a contact-officials feature with draft-email templates; added this toolbar (search, glossary, FAQ, table view, shareable links, walkthrough).
Earlier
Initial release comparing the first 5 announced proposals (including Wonder Valley) against nearby Alberta communities, with footprint-overlay and basic stats.
This map is updated as new public information becomes available. Figures reflect company/government disclosures as of the dates shown — always check primary sources (linked via the Contact feature) for the latest.
Select a city to overlay data centre footprints
Actual DC locations are already pinned on the map
All 13 proposals — click a column heading to sort (click again to reverse)
Figures are company/government estimates from public announcements & filings — see the disclaimer for sources and methodology. "Investment" and "Air quality" are marked "not publicly disclosed" where no figure has been independently reported as of June 2026.