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Verified project profile

Beacon Foothills AI Data Center Hub

Beacon proposes a 400 MW data centre campus on 279.5 acres east of High River. Foothills County passed three planning bylaws in February 2025, amending the Foothills Crossing Area Structure Plan, adding a data centre campus definition, and redesignating the subject lands to Business Park. Those decisions created a planning path; they did not issue a development permit or authorize construction. Public records also describe 400 MW of proposed on-site generation and a separate 400 MW AESO grid-load request, but they do not yet establish the final power design, fuel, cooling system, water demand, or construction schedule.

Beacon Data Centers
How to read this profilePublic recordProponent statementProponent projectionADCW context

Project facts

Core scale, approval, employment, and schedule information, labelled by the type of evidence available.

Public record

Proposed campus capacity

400 MW

A planning-stage capacity figure, not approved or operating demand.

Sources [1]
Public record

Subject lands

279.5 acres

129.51 acres in part of NE 09-19-28 W4M and 149.99 acres in part of SE 09-19-28 W4M.

Sources [3]
Public record

Land-use status

Business Park; discretionary use

Bylaw 07/2025 redesignated the lands and allows a data centre campus to be considered through a development-permit application.

Sources [3]
Public record

Maximum structure height

18 metres

The site-specific land-use rule applies to the subject lands.

Sources [3]
ADCW context

Capital-cost listing

$4.0 billion

Alberta Major Projects lists this estimate, but its description also refers to Beacon's broader six-campus program. ADCW has not verified a project-specific cost breakdown.

Sources [6]
Proponent projection

Operations employment

300 jobs projected

A proponent estimate reported by Alberta Major Projects, not an observed or binding employment commitment.

Sources [6]

Energy and emissions

The public record contains three 400 MW figures: a proposed campus capacity, proposed on-site generation, and an AESO grid-load connection request. They describe related pieces of the same proposal and must not be added together.

Important distinction: The power picture is unresolved. A 400 MW AESO request does not approve a grid connection, and the provincial registry's 400 MW on-site generation figure does not disclose the fuel, equipment, emissions, or regulatory applications.
Public record

Proposed data centre campus

400 MW

The municipal application describes a 400 MW campus. It is not operating demand or a utility approval.

Sources [1]
Public record

Proposed on-site generation

400 MW

Alberta Major Projects reports this figure. The source does not identify the fuel, generating equipment, emissions, or a regulator application.

Sources [6]
Public record

AESO grid-load request

400 MW

AESO lists P2926 Beacon Foothills A.I. Hub Load with a 400 MW DTS request. A connection request is not approval, contracted supply, construction, or measured load.

Sources [7]
ADCW context

How the power figures relate

Not established

The reviewed sources do not show whether on-site generation would normally carry the full campus, how often grid power would be imported or exported, or whether the two power paths are alternatives or complementary.

Sources [1], [6], [7]
ADCW context

Backup generation

Not quantified

The land-use definition allows ancillary power-generation facilities, but no project-specific backup fleet, capacity, fuel storage, or emissions filing was found.

Sources [2], [3]

Water

No project-specific cooling design or daily water volume was found. The amended area plan describes a long-term County servicing concept from Aldersyde and interim on-site options for the wider plan area, not a final or approved Beacon water supply. [4]

ADCW context

Campus cooling design

Not disclosed

No project-specific filing reviewed by ADCW establishes the cooling technology, water source, withdrawal, consumption, discharge, or measured use.

Sources [1], [4]
Public record

Area servicing concept

Future County piped service from Aldersyde

The amended area plan identifies this as the most likely long-term solution for the broader Foothills Crossing area. It is not evidence of a final Beacon supply agreement or reserved capacity.

Sources [4]
Public record

Interim servicing

On-site options contemplated

The area plan allows interim development before piped wastewater service is available. A project-specific water and wastewater design has not been published.

Sources [4]
Public record

Stormwater

Project plan required

The site-specific rules tie the maximum impermeable coverage to a professional stormwater management plan. Final pond, discharge, wetland, and construction details remain unresolved.

Sources [3], [4]

Noise

Project-specific noise evidence is shown when it is available. A predicted sound level is not a measurement from an operating facility.

Public record

Noise plan

Required with later permit application

Foothills County requires a complete development-permit application to include noise mitigation and monitoring where AUC Rule 012 does not apply. No project-specific noise model, predicted receptor level, or final mitigation design was found.

Sources [3]

Indigenous context

Data centre projects sit within treaty territories and places with longstanding First Nations and Métis connections. This section brings together the public record on treaty geography, Indigenous ownership, consultation, and community concerns. Treaty boundaries alone cannot tell us which communities may be affected or how they view a project.

ADCW context

Treaty geography

Treaty 7 territory

This is geographic context. The reviewed municipal and provincial sources do not provide a complete project-specific Indigenous consultation record or establish the positions of potentially affected communities.

Sources [8]

Approval and public process

The approved area-plan and land-use bylaws establish where a data centre campus may be considered. Because the campus is a discretionary use, Beacon still needs a project-specific development permit and any separate utility, environmental, power-plant, or connection approvals.

Public record

Area Structure Plan

Bylaw 05/2025 passed

Council amended the Foothills Crossing plan to allow a business park that may accommodate a data centre campus and related uses.

Sources [3], [4]
Public record

Land-use definition

Bylaw 06/2025 passed

The County added a data centre campus definition that includes supporting facilities such as power generation, substations, maintenance, offices, and security buildings.

Sources [3]
Public record

Land redesignation

Bylaw 07/2025 passed

Council redesignated 279.5 acres from Agricultural to Business Park and made a data centre campus a discretionary use on the subject lands.

Sources [3]
Public record

Development-permit requirements

Noise, fire, and emergency plans

A complete application must include noise mitigation and monitoring where AUC Rule 012 does not apply, a fire-prevention program, and a dynamic emergency-response plan.

Sources [3]
Public record

Public engagement

Open house and public hearing completed

The applicant held a December 11, 2024 open house. The County held the public hearing on January 29, 2025 before the bylaws returned for final readings.

Sources [4], [2]

Timeline

Observed decisions and future dates are kept distinct; projected milestones may change.

  1. Public record

    Stantec, on behalf of Beacon Data Centres, submitted the combined area-plan amendment and land-use application. [4]

  2. Public record

    The applicant held an open house at the Highwood Centre in High River. [4]

  3. Public record

    Foothills County held the public hearing and gave first reading to Bylaws 05/2025, 06/2025, and 07/2025. [2]

  4. Public record

    Council passed second and third readings for all three bylaws, approving the planning amendments and redesignating the subject lands. [3]

  5. ADCW context

    AESO's current connection-project reporting lists P2926 as a 400 MW grid-load request. A project-specific development permit has not been verified in the reviewed public sources. [7][5]

What we still don't know

Some details have not been made public or remain unresolved. We keep those gaps visible and update them when reliable information becomes available.

  • A project-specific development permit, approved site plan, building permit, or construction authorization has not been verified.
  • The final number, height, footprint, and phasing of data halls are unresolved. Municipal and provincial sources describe the building program differently.
  • The final relationship between the 400 MW campus figure, 400 MW on-site generation figure, and 400 MW AESO grid-load request is not public.
  • The generation fuel, equipment, air emissions, greenhouse-gas estimate, noise model, fuel storage, regulator applications, and approval path are not published.
  • The data centre's cooling technology, daily and annual water demand, supply agreement, wastewater route, and operating water balance are not published.
  • The final AESO connection studies, transmission facilities, utility agreements, construction schedule, and service date are unresolved.
  • A project-specific environmental effects record covering wetlands, habitat, stormwater, traffic, lighting, and cumulative effects has not been published as a final approval package.
  • A complete project-specific Indigenous consultation and engagement record was not found.
  • Committed customers, financing, final investment decision, contractor awards, equipment orders, and binding construction dates have not been disclosed.
  • The provincial cost and employment estimates are projections without a public project-specific breakdown or binding local-benefit commitment.

Source record

Primary and official sources reviewed for this profile. Company disclosures support what the company said, not independent verification of future outcomes.

  1. Beacon data centre public hearing staff report

    Foothills County · Municipal record · 2025-01

  2. Council minutes: January 29, 2025

    Foothills County · Municipal record · 2025-01-29

  3. Council minutes: February 26, 2025

    Foothills County · Municipal record · 2025-02-26

  4. Foothills Crossing Area Structure Plan, 2025 amended

    Foothills County · Municipal record · Amended 2025-02-26

  5. Foothills Crossing Area Structure Plan

    Foothills County · Municipal record · Accessed 2026-08-23

  6. Beacon Foothills AI Data Center Hub

    Government of Alberta Major Projects · Government database · Accessed 2026-08-23

  7. Connection Project Reporting

    Alberta Electric System Operator · Regulator · Updated 2026-08-05

  8. Treaty Boundary dataset

    Government of Canada Open Government Portal · Government database · Modified 2026-06-29