Before Sturgeon County, Meta wooed Olds as home to $13B data centre

'Initially when data centres were introduced into our land use bylaws, there was very little public reaction'

Before Sturgeon County, before the Industrial Heartland — from a blind date arranged with the blessing of the province's industry "concierge," Meta first wooed the Town of Olds in 2025 and early 2026 as a prospect for its high voltage $13-billion mega data centre. Olds, about 200 km south of Edmonton, liked the match, as per the the town website: broader tax base plus less pressure on residential taxes equals long-term financial stability. Projected were 2,000 temporary construction jobs compared to fewer than the 3,000 cited for the Edmonton area Meta centre in Sturgeon County announced last week.

The Olds deal also included the prospect of 1,000 permanent jobs at full-scale, far more than the 300 permanent jobs cited in Sturgeon numbers — and the all-important "aligns with provincial economic strategy." "The Town of Olds is trying to attract data centres to support our local economy and align with Provincial Priorities," said the Olds website, outlining both the carrot and the stick. "The Province will never build an additional school or expand a hospital in a town that is not growing."

But there were issues — a light industrial park with 1,500 residents within two kilometres. When word got out about the courtship, there was harsh digital graffiti, set ablaze, ironically, by Meta's Facebook. "LOCATION MATTERS!"

all caps screamed one post, this one on Rebecca Mac's Facebook page. "This is NOT where you build a hyperscale AI data centre with 600 industrial diesel generators, 800 chillers, 10 stacks and a 1.4GW power plant with lithium ion battery storage," she wrote. Another wag suggested the data centre might be better placed "close to the premier's base of support."

"Great referendum question, do you want a data centre near you in Alberta?" wrote another commenter. Meanwhile, Meta's strategists for the Olds plant were barraged by Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) requests for more information. Questions like: "Synapse provided updated renderings of the project on PDF pages 16 and 17 in Exhibit 30732-X1223.01 of the modular design with integrated gas power plants and an open-air mechanical yard.

Request: Please provide real-world examples of data centres of a similar size, modular design and an open-air mechanical yard. Please provide examples of real-world gas power plants using the proposed dry cooling system along with the generation capacity and water usage of those examples ... Please comment on the assumptions and level of certainty associated with the water use estimates.

In your response, provide the qualifications or relevant expertise of the individual(s) who prepared or reviewed the estimates." By March 10, 2026, although questions continued to roll in, Meta withdrew the Olds Synapse Development Permit application, effectively ghosting the Alberta commission. Without responses to ongoing engineering questions, the AUC eventually, officially pulled the plug on the project that never saw a shovel turned over, a plug touch a socket.

No land purchased — no harm, no foul. The Olds website needs an update: this week, it said two private data centre projects are proposed in Olds, although the AUC said there are no current such applications still in play there. Olds Coun.

Curtis J. Cook said the town hasn't necessarily closed its gates to data centres. "Initially when data centres were introduced into our land use bylaws, there was very little public reaction. It wasn't until specific developments were proposed that the public became more opinionated about data centres specifically," he said in an email to Postmedia.

"The town of Olds has a robust economic development team with the intent to attract responsible development to Olds. If a proponent can show they can build safely and responsibly, Olds is certainly willing to work with them." Plan B Meta's Plan B was announced this week: warmly received by local leaders, a $13 billion hyperscaler in a part of rural Sturgeon County, about 30 km north of Edmonton.

The are has long been zoned heavy industrial complex, initially equipped as home to 12 refineries. Out near where highways 825 and 643 conjoin in rural Sturgeon County, the data centre may rise where human habitation has long been mostly bought out, dissuaded, erased, and canola's abloom on farm-leased acreages. The mega data centre would be plunked across the river from where Alberta Heartland's petrochemical giants like Shell and Dow loom silver on the horizon, steady streams of heavy industrial haulers, laden with heavy industrial stuff, bound for heavy industrial sites, sharing the road with spidery metal farm equipment tootling along well below the speed limit.

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