Langdon residents oppose $10-billion AI data centre project

Residents of Langdon, a hamlet east of Calgary with roughly 6,000 people, are voicing strong opposition to a proposed AI data centre in their community's vicinity.

The Wild Rose Power Hub is a multibillion-dollar hyperscale data centre that would be built two kilometres southwest of Langdon. Chinook Development L.P. is leading the proposal, which would take up 194 hectares of farmland approximately 10 kilometres east of Calgary city limits, along Township Road 232 and 1.6 kilometres west of Highway 797.

An open house this week drew almost unanimous disdain from attendees, according to Josh Antonishyn, a 30-year resident. "I don't think there was any positive feedback — everyone is against it," he said. "All the conversations I could hear, not one was positive or in favour of it."

Antonishyn cited concerns about the loss of nearly 500 acres of prime farmland, the noise the facility would generate, and water consumption. The facility would use 190,000 litres of water per day, he said, drawn from Langdon's water supply.

"They mention it's a closed loop system but there's an initial fill," Antonishyn said. "The water is not going to be trucked in, it's going to be pulled from Langdon. I know other developments use water as well, but the level of consumption, I don't think, is sustainable for us over the long term."

Chinook Development L.P. did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A project website indicates that at full build-out, the Wild Rose Power Hub would support between 975 and 2,100 operations jobs. The project would tie into adjacent high-voltage transmission lines and substations, with on-site stormwater retention and closed-loop cooling systems.

The data centre proposal is part of a broader expansion of AI facilities across Alberta as the technology sector competes for data centre capacity.