Open house meetings for Cape Breton data centre projects begin

People in Nova Scotia have a lot of questions about the AI data center that was announced in Point Tupper last month. This week, they had a chance to get some answers. The company behind the project, Everwind Fuels, held its first open house session. There were no protests inside or out, and questions were pointed but respectful. I know that the province is saying that you don't need to do an environmental assessment or a straight environmental assessment, but I'm wondering if you guys are going to commission a full independent one anyhow. Just to see what's going to happen with the water, wildlife, noise associated with this in the straits there. And then are those results going to be made public? There were also questions about power rates and around safety and management of batteries on site. Teresa McNeil is a resident of Johnstown and wanted to learn more about the project. I have concerns, but I'm not for or against it yet. I do believe it's very important to have objective people making presentations as distinct from the vested interests. I've been working away most of my life. I've been chasing the jobs in the Midwest, up north, pretty much almost every province in all the territories. I'm a tradesman. I'm a welder. It's nice to have something like this going on. Everwind intends to build the first phase in a billion-dollar, 95-megawatt data center by next year. It is also planning a further expansion of the data center in 2028, a $2 billion wind farm to eventually power the site. The company has said it intends to draw electricity from the provincial energy grid until the onshore turbines are built. Everwin says Tuesday's session is to give residents a chance to learn more about the project and to have their say. We know the community here really well. We, obviously, as a large employer in the area, have a lot of staff that live in this community. You know, we're... We're Nova Scotians and we live in these areas and we want to ensure that the way that we're developing these projects are in the best interest of the communities, that we're doing it responsibly and that there's a lot of benefits as a result of it. People who turned out to the meeting were happy to have a chance to have their say, but there's still lots of public opposition to the project. Protests are scheduled throughout the province later this week, and an online petition currently has more than 23,000 signatures. Everwin says they are pleased with the turnout at the community session and will be hosting more to keep the conversation going. Kyle Moore, CBC News, Digby.