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ARTICLE · 16 JANUARY 2026

Powering The Cloud: How Alberta Is Reshaping Its Electricity System For Data Centres

Gowling WLG
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On December 11, 2025, Alberta enacted a coordinated set of legislative measures to respond to the rapid growth of large-scale data centres and their impact on the provincial electricity system.

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
Sana Khan
Sana Khan
Mikail Osman
Mikail Osman
Laura Gheorghiu
Laura Gheorghiu
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On December 11, 2025, Alberta enacted a coordinated set of legislative measures to respond to the rapid growth of large-scale data centres and their impact on the provincial electricity system. The Financial Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2025 ("Bill 12") and the Utilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 ("Bill 8") received Royal Assent on the same day and together establish a framework that both assigns cost responsibility for data centre electricity demand and reshapes how that demand is supplied.

Bill 12 introduces a new levy, effective December 31, 2026, applicable to data centres with electricity capacity of 75 megawatts ("MW") or more, with the objective of ensuring that highly power-intensive facilities, particularly those drawing electricity from the grid, bear some of the costs associated with their demand rather than shifting those costs to residential and business ratepayers only.

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