Synapse Real Estate Corp · Olds data center, Olds, Alberta

The Alberta Utilities Commission has turned down the natural gas power plant that Synapse Real Estate Corp. needed for its planned AI data center campus in the town of Olds, Alberta, Canada, ruling on August 17, 2026 that the site was too close to the community. "The project is too close to the surrounding community, and Synapse failed to demonstrate any compelling justification for selecting that location," the commission said. "The site is simply not suitable for the proposed development."

Synapse planned 10 data centers of 100 megawatts each, offering up to 1,000 megawatts of capacity, and an onsite gas plant of 1,400 megawatts, on 121 hectares in the town's northeast at Highway 2A and Highway 27. The company promised a $10 billion investment and 1,000 jobs in a town of about 10,000 people roughly 85 kilometers north of Calgary. The plan also included 1.8 gigawatts of emergency and backup diesel generation. The commission counted 3,200 megawatts of installed generation in all, including 600 emergency diesel generators.

The site boundary was about 30 meters from the first row of homes across a residential road, and near shops, restaurants and hotels, with more than 700 residences within 800 meters, the commission found. About 1,500 parties applied to take part in the hearings and more than 900 were granted standing, far more than usual. Residents raised noise, pollution, home values, safety and strain on health care and emergency services. "There is no way they should have been placing a 1.4-gigawatt power plant right inside the boundaries of a small heritage town. It's blasphemy. It's monstrous," said resident Carol Edwards, who said she told Synapse CEO Jason van Gaal to move it five kilometers outside town. "I'm feeling sick about the lack of transparency, and then all of a sudden this is thrust on us," resident Rachel Sorenson said at an open house in February.

Olds council had rezoned the land for light industrial use despite the objections, and the town saw the project as a boost to its tax base. Mayor Dan Daley said the land will stay industrial and the town will keep seeking industrial projects there, because its tax base is about 80 percent residential. A second company, Data District Inc., has bought land in Olds and is working with Invest Olds on early planning, but has filed no application.

The commission decides only on power infrastructure; zoning and land use for data centers belong to the town, which says it has never received a development permit application from Synapse and would review one against its Land Use Bylaw.