Sarnia–Lambton–Bkejwanong MP Marilyn Gladu says she's "actively pursuing" the possibility of data centre development in Lambton County.
During a recent funding announcement, Gladu mentioned there are seven or eight proponents looking at Lambton County as a possible site.
"We have everything they need. These are all closed-loop cooling circuits but we do have the water to initially feed those. We have a lot of electricity. We're connected to the grid, a lot of natural gas in the area. These are things that would be very strategic for people to locate here," Gladu said.
When asked by Sarnia News Today about potential environmental concerns, Gladu said the intent is not to build near residential areas.
"With the designs they're looking at right now, there aren't really environmental concerns, because the kinds of sites they're looking at are the OPG site, for example, or adjacent to that, where there's really nothing around it. It's not like putting them in a residential area," she said. "There were concerns expressed in other places of the world where they were building data centres very close to residential, that's not our intent here."
While several studies have looked into electricity and water consumption demands associated with data centres, long-term impacts are still being assessed.
A report published earlier this year by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health projected that by 2030 global data centres may have a water footprint equivalent to the annual needs of an estimated 1.3 billion people.
Discussions about potential data centres in the area have come up several times over the past year.
Federal Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon previously told Sarnia News Today that the federal government is open to opportunities and is looking into safeguards to build "Canadian sovereign AI."
Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey also voiced support for AI technologies and potential economic opportunities during an event held in February.
In September, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley asked county staff to prepare a report on the potential impacts of AI-related data centre development within Lambton County, and to have the report prepared by early 2027. The motion presented during a county council meeting was carried.
