Port Hawkesbury residents have questions about AI data centre

People living in Port Hawkesbury have a lot of questions about the AI data center coming to Point Tupper. EverWind Fuels recently announced the 8 billion dollar facility and it's expected to come online at the end of 2027. Some locals use AI and see the need for a data center but they're concerned about the impact it will have on the community. I want to see how the whole plan unfolds. It's nice to say rah-rah and cheer it on, but we've got to see how this is all laid out. Who's funding, and what's the agreements, and how long is it going to last, what's the job prospects, how many locals will be employed, very important. It's already been announced, and the people are still in the dark. I have concerns of water usage, noise, pollution, electric power rates going up, and I'd like to know what are the circumstances or controls around that. The center will be leased by American AI company Anthropic. The first phase of the project will have a capacity of 95 megawatts, which will be powered by Nova Scotia's electrical grid. The second phase of the project would be powered by a $2 billion development of four onshore wind farms. Everwind Fuels and Anthropic say they will pay for any needed upgrades, while they also plan to have a closed-loop water system. But some locals are skeptical of these promises. Corporations have their own agenda. They can say everything they want and go ahead and change it in the future. There is no guarantees. Lazan is organizing a protest against the data center in the coming weeks. It's one of several protests planned across the province. Lazan says the biggest reason he's doing this is because people have been left in the dark, and they're hoping to educate people who attend. People are tired, they don't want to deal with it, and they don't want to stand up. But people don't understand that there is no one being paid to represent the best interests of the people. EverWind Fuels says they'll be meeting with people in the area to help them understand how the data center will impact the community. Ethan Hunt, CBC News, Port Hawkesbury.