AI data centre is an opportunity for Richmond County, warden says

A massive AI data center is underway in Point Tupper, just outside of Port Hawkesbury. Everwind Fuels will build and own the facility, while artificial intelligence giant Anthropic will lease the first phase for a term of at least 20 years. It will power Anthropic's AI assistant, Claude. Richmond County Warden Lois Landry joins us now. So since the announcement was made on Friday, what have residents been saying to you? We've heard certainly a mixed bag of reports from residents. We've had, I think each councillor, but certainly through our office and through my own emails and social media, we've had a mixed bag. We've had people who are really quite against the notion of a data center, and we've had people who, you know, assuming there are safeguards and regulations are being followed, are very much in favor. So we've certainly heard the gamut. I don't think anybody has said, let them do whatever they want, doesn't matter if they're not mindful of water and power rates. But we certainly have had, you know, some positive and negative concerns and a lot of questions and a lot of questions about community engagement. Well, when did you first learn about this project, that it was actually happening, and who told you? So we had information going back several weeks. We are open to having conversations with developers who are essentially kicking the tires. Some of that information is proprietary. I had a conversation not long ago from someone looking at developing something, but they were going to need to buy a piece of land and they didn't want that to get out so that it didn't drive up the, you know, we're competing for land from a neighboring property. We also try to be mindful of managing expectations. We've had people say, hey, we're interested in this and it just doesn't pan out. So we heard a few weeks back about a potential data center. From who? Who told you about it? Well, I'll be honest. I actually heard about it online. The owner of Everwind had posted that he was in the data center business on LinkedIn, I believe. So it wasn't anything I didn't think that was, you know, meant to be something they were discussing. And so I just asked. I see the folks from Everwind at a lot of our local events and that kind of thing. But in terms of actual information about the size and that kind of thing, it was really only the week of the presentation. Now, pre-construction is underway. I'm just wondering, was a permit for a green hydrogen facility issued or for an AI data center? And when was it filed? So there would be various permitting applications, many permitting applications. So the permitting for green hydrogen or wind development, that would trigger certain environmental assessments through the Department of the Environment and Climate Change. There would be regulations and permits that would be required any time that you are going past the high water mark into the ocean. That would trigger federal things. In terms of water and building permits, which are two kind of key priorities for municipalities, two of our areas of jurisdiction, everyone's intention to draw water from the Landry Lake Water Utility for green hydrogen, That goes back well over a year. And there was a NSARB hearing, Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board hearing in May. Media attended all the information about the hydrology studies for Landry Lake and what their intended draw was for green hydrogen. That would have been submitted to various authorities, including the utility locally. But that all of that has to go to the Regulatory and Appeals Board provincially. So those go back quite a distance. I can confirm that as of three o'clock on Friday, there was no building permit, for example, applied for by the company for a data center. So pre-construction essentially means, you know, you're cutting down the trees, you're clearing the land. But there was no formal building permit for data center application that has gone in, which is consistent with what the company said at the technical briefing on Friday, which is that they have not completed the design elements and the designs of the building, which would trigger all the regulations you need to abide by, and you wouldn't be able to apply for a building permit without that. As you mentioned, there are concerns about water usage, power consumption, impact on the environment. Why were you reassured that this is not going to negatively impact Pointe-Tupper and the surrounding areas? largely their um green hydrogen aspirations have resulted in several hydrology studies done at at Landry Lake so going back to the 70s Landry Lake which was a naturally occurring lake but it was modified to become a water source for industrial use in the park and so leading into conversations and permitting for green hydrogen there were two at least two hydrology studies and we would always use the more conservative estimate but um when you do hydrology studies the the metric of choice is millions of liters per day and so there are 36 but potentially 34 depending on new regulations and new um new elements in the park uh or in the water source but so 34 million liters per day and we use less than seven currently so we we have a good amount of water to supply in our industrial park and we have talked for years about the industrial park is open for business and we are hoping to see industry move in there well how can you be sure that the water consumption estimates they've given will be accurate once the data center goes live and it will a water meter be installed in that building oh of course water meters would absolutely be installed and there is provincial legislation that includes regulations that Landry Lake water utility has in place which are available online and the regulations under that utility stipulate that if a company says i want x amounts of water and you take x plus any amount there is a provision that the utility can suspend their water draw so so if i could just finish my my last answer my last question the um so the hydrology studies are there and so the design of the uh current design which I believe is still in flux, I think they're trying to maybe see if they can tighten it up even further, is looking at 0.5 for the two phases combined. That is well within the amount that we are able to safely draw from the lake. It doesn't come close to exhausting our water supply. And again, the regulations under the utilities stipulate that if you accidentally one time take too much water one month there are you know that's breach of contract that is opportunity for us to invoke fines to take you to court on that kind of thing for a one-time offense but if you are routinely taking more water there is a prevent provision i believe it's regulation 39 where we can just suspend your water and say you said you were taking this much and you're taking more and now you can't have that water anymore so it is this is a highly regulated um regulated resource. And to suggest otherwise, that's just not fair. It's not accurate. And I think it's a little bit insulting to us as well, because it suggests that we are not mindful of the importance of that resource and that we don't have the appropriate measures in place to protect residents, no matter who is moving in. Have you been able to talk to other communities who've already had these data centers about what it's been like for their residents? I don't know of any community in Nova Scotia that has this kind of specific development anywhere in Nova Scotia. I think what we know is that any data center that was built 3, 4, 5, 10 years ago in any other jurisdiction that does not have the kind of regulations we have here is like comparing apples and oranges. So if you are comparing a data center built in Texas where there, for example, is absolutely no zoning, where the climate is quite warm, where they may have been built years ago and technology has not improved, it's not a reasonable comparison. So what we're interested in are the current regulations in Nova Scotia and what the current design is. Point Tupper Heavy Industrial Park does not permit houses to have been built or be built in that heavy industrial zone. So comparing it to a place where they have built a data center butting up to a community hall and homes is apples to oranges. It is not even remotely close to the environment and the context that we have here in Richmond County. A lot of talk about the economic boost to the area. What kind of changes do you foresee? What do you think the county will look like in the next few years? We expect, should this development move forward and open according to the dates, we expect to generate some additional tax revenue. Property Valuation Services will determine what the property's assessed value is, And we will multiply that by the commercial rate and our fire levy for that community. But I think the community benefit agreement discussions about tens of millions of dollars in community benefit agreements, signed agreements that say that for as long as this facility is open, beginning on the first day, that dollars will be transferred to the municipality. That is significant. the municipality's budget currently is 19 million dollars annually give or take and so to talk about tens of millions of dollars of additional revenue is not nothing we had massive consultations in this community about the potential for a replacement for our um referee our only arena in the area those came to a screeching halt when the 43 million dollar price tag was revealed those conversations could begin anew if a signed benefit agreement is in place here. We have been lobbying for I think two years now for a CT scanner at our local hospital, which we believe not only provides service to residents, but also could encourage more healthcare professionals to work in a facility that is well resourced. So that would be a significant boost for all residents inside Richmond County and beyond our borders. So we have had discussions about community benefit agreement going back two years because green hydrogen as a development would also include community benefits, as do wind development outside of Richmond County. So we've been talking about the kinds of things that might be included in this for a long time, and it is a significant, significant opportunity for a municipality of our size. Do you have plans for more public consultation? So public consultation is the responsibility of the developer and i i was asked about this will the municipality do public consultation and i i said no that is the responsibility of the developer and and when asked when pressed on that a little bit i want to be very clear um the community expects to have consultation and engagement from the company but the company is going to pay for that if they're going to come to the discus hall they're going to pay the rental fee for the discus hall those costs will not be incurred by the municipality and taxpayers here. So engagement is a necessary component of this. It needs to be initiated and paid for by the developer, which aligns with what we have said all along. Any costs that come from this development, whether it is the coffee and donuts at an engagement session, or the infrastructure that needs to be put in place to improve the power grid, those all need to be paid for by the company. We do expect to have this on the agenda at every public meeting that we hold. We had it on two weeks or a week and a half ago. It'll be on our council agenda. There's question periods where people can ask questions. So we certainly have that forum. But community engagement is the responsibility of the company. All right, Warden Landry, we will have to leave it there. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for having me.