Teen urges premier to reject data centre, ‘put people and the environment first’

A 17-year-old who started a petition against the construction of an AI data centre northwest of Winnipeg has made a personal appeal to the premier to stop it.

Leona Gollub emailed Premier Wab Kinew to voice her concern about the environmental impact of a 5.5-megawatt AI data centre that’s being built on Brookside Boulevard in the Centreport industrial area in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, northwest of Winnipeg.

She said she worries about the noise and light pollution that would be emitted by the facility, and the massive amount of electricity it will require that could instead power people’s homes.

The premier, who recently rejected a data centre in Île dês Chênes, southeast of Winnipeg, thanked her for her concern in an email but did not go beyond that.

“I do really hope that Wab Kinew will enforce laws about it and put people and the environment first,” she said.

A provincial spokesperson said in an email that the government puts communities before technology and listens to the concerns of Manitobans. The spokesperson couldn’t give further details about the data centre or why its construction was approved owing to the media blackout during a provincial byelection. A vote is set for The Pas-Kameesak seat on July 21.

Kinew pulled the plug on the proposed Île des Chênes facility last month. Las Vegas-based Jet.AI Inc., and Consensus Core Technologies Inc., a British Columbia firm, had proposed building the data centre on 350 acres of farmland north of the community.

Gollub said she became concerned once the Merit Functional Foods hub, a pea and canola processing facility, began to be converted into a Bell Canada data centre earlier this year.

She decided to start a petition, which has in excess of 1,700 signatures, that calls on the province to intervene and stop the project.

“I do really hope that Wab Kinew will enforce laws about it and put people and the environment first.”

“It upset me a lot, and I just kind of felt this is my moment to do something important and help out my community in the way I can,” she said.

Gollub, who is from East St. Paul, is worried about how the energy use could affect Rosser and neighbouring municipalities.

The data centre has been a concern for many in Rosser, said Zélia Barbosa-Meyer, who lives two kilometres from the site.

The 18-year-old has long advocated against generative AI and has serious concerns about potential noise and light pollution.

“Learning there was going to be an AI data centre built almost down my road, I was surprised and also worried,” she said.

She said many people she has spoken to in the area are concerned about the data centre’s proximity to Little Mountain Park, which bustles with wildlife.

“It upset me a lot, and I just kind of felt this is my moment to do something important and help out my community in the way I can.”

“This never should have been put this close to the city area. I understand the need for repurposing buildings, but this is just the wrong place for this,” said Lloyd Johnson, the founder of Little Mountain Park Conservatory Group.

Johnson lives in Winnipeg but has worked for more than a decade to help preserve the park located in the RM of Rosser.

He said the group has tried to reduce light pollution in the park from other developments, and is worried the data centre will only add to the uphill battle they’ve been fighting.

He said he’s also worried about how it could affect future housing development in the area.

Bell announced last year it planned to create a national network of artificial-intelligence facilities. The Manitoba space will hold a “small presence” in the overall project, said David Marcille, Bell senior manager of media relations, in April.

The South Interlake Planning District, which issues permits for Rosser, has approved at least three building and development permits for the facility.

Construction costs, including mechanical and electrical upgrades, total at least $31.5 million, the permits show.

“This never should have been put this close to the city area. I understand the need for repurposing buildings, but this is just the wrong place for this.”

James Wilt, policy development manager for Climate Action Manitoba, said the data centre could strain local power grids.

He said the 5.5-megawatts of power isn’t a lot compared to larger data centres being built in Canada, such as a 300-megawatt facility in Saskatchewan, but it’s still enough to heat up to 800 homes.

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“It’s not enormous, but it’s not insignificant either,” he said.

In winter when grids are under peak loads, the data centre would likely need diesel generators to make their own power, which could add to noise pollution.

He said if more data centres are built, it could require Manitoba Hydro to build more power plants and upgrade local infrastructure.

Ken Mulligan, the reeve of Rosser, was not available for comment.

tiago.resko@freepress.mb.ca