R. Scott Hutcheson, executive chair of Aspen Properties and chair of the Invest Alberta board, is bullish on Alberta’s future as a data centre mecca.
During a panel at last week’s Calgary Real Estate Forum, he discussed the potential for development in the province, noting Alberta’s favorable business climate and geography as likely drawing interest.
Green Street News caught up with Hutcheson after the panel to hear more of his perspective.
Can you explain where your optimism for Alberta’s data centre potential is coming from?
First of all, there are some data centres here already in the province. I’ve watched the data centre growth in the U.S. be enormous. Blackstone’s got a huge fund. Most of the private equity groups today are focused on that.
We’re behind in Canada. So, from a location standpoint in Canada, because Alberta has cheaper land, no latency issues, a cool environment and lots of energy, it lends itself better than the rest of the country to data centre growth.
Are there any centres in the pipeline now that you know of?
I know that right now our province is talking to many individuals, private equities, large data centre contractors. The big issue is where will the energy come from in the province because of the amount of energy that’s required and what resources are available.
“We need to do better at providing the kind energy that these facilities will take up”
So, I think our province will get its head around helping data centres create the right kind of energy, very close to some central nodes and that’s what the discussion is today. What a data centre needs is a long-term contract securing its energy needs. So, it can do that in certain places in Alberta, but we need to do better at providing the kind energy that these facilities will take up.
So, does that mean building new energy generation plants?
That’s right. Nuclear, some solar, but that’s not as dependable as natural gas, generally, and hydrogen.
And what does Alberta offer data centres?
Really good connectivity. So, a superhighway that allows for no latency. Cheap land, low taxes, the ability to move quickly. Our government’s really good at moving quickly and not creating barriers. [There’s a] willingness, politically, and [we have] the lowest corporate tax rate in Canada.
If you look at B.C., there’s issues related to earthquakes. And so, you can’t have a data centre near an earthquake when you’re putting $2, $3, $4 or $5bn into an investment. So those things set us up correctly for the future.
Okay. And what kind of timelines do you think we’re on before we really start seeing activity here?
Yeah, I think we’re two to three years from really seeing huge investment in this province in data centres, but it’s all brewing right now.
And that would be mainly in Edmonton and Calgary?
I think it can go anywhere that the superhighway goes. So, it doesn’t have to be Calgary, it doesn’t have to be Edmonton. It can be spread out through the province.
