Where it stands
The facts
What we know about Synapse
What it is
A large proposed data centre near Olds, reported at around CA$10 billion, that depended on building its own on-site natural gas power plant to sidestep the grid.
Why it is here
The Alberta Utilities Commission rejected that power plant — first in early 2026 on procedural and evidentiary grounds, and again later in the year. The company has continued to file. This is the category almost nobody covers: a headline-grabbing announcement that the regulator turned down.
The lesson
For projects that plan to bring their own generation, the generation approval is often where the project lives or dies — not the data centre itself.
Source: The Narwhal. Full list on Citations.
What the community is saying
The coverage and the response
Real reporting and documented community response, cited. We link out so you can read the source yourself, not our summary of it.
Alberta regulator rejects Canada's largest data centre
The Alberta Utilities Commission turned down the on-site power plant the project depended on.
The Narwhal →
NewsAlberta government kicks off town hall tour on data centres
The Olds project drew some of the loudest local concern, part of why the province toured town halls.
CBC News →