Confusion and questions surround proposed AI data centre near Regina
CBC
As soon as Simon Enoch heard about a plan by Bell Canada to build an artificial intelligence data centre near Regina, he only had one thing on his mind: details.
"I want details because we can't really size up the impact and effect of this data centre until we have more details," Enoch, a researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, told CBC's Blue Sky with Nichole Huck this week.
The broad strokes of the proposal can be found in documents filed with the Rural Municipality of Sherwood.
Bell Canada plans to build an unspecified number of "interconnected low-rise data centre buildings" on approximately 65 hectares of land south of the Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus, according to the documents.
The proposal in front of the RM of Sherwood was only an application for rezoning.
That means the answers to specific questions Enoch and many others have — like the size of the data centre, how much energy it will consume, its water usage and how many jobs it might create — remain unclear.
For many people in Regina, the lack of information has caused confusion and prompted even more questions.
Others are already working to have their concerns heard through several petitions circulating in the city.
Jay-Jay Bigsky, a Regina resident, has launched a letter writing campaign.
"Many people are worried about access to the water, access to power, as well as what that will look like on our upcoming bills," Bigsky told The Morning Edition with Adam Hunter.
Water usage remains the key concern for residents, including one activist from George Gordon First Nation, which owns land bordering the proposed facility.
An AI data centre can use large amounts of water, especially if it employs an evaporative cooling system.
While the documents contain a reference to a "closed-loop cooling" system and Regina's cooler climate, that detail alone doesn't provide a clear answer about how much water may be needed.
A comparison to existing facilities in Canada and the United States is also impossible without more information on the size of the proposed facility near Regina.
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