Saskatchewan says families won’t foot the power bill for Bell’s planned AI data centre expansion near Regina, pushing the debate back toward Bring Your Own Power.
Speaking after a Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show luncheon, the province told reporters the extra load “does use electricity” but Bell will “bring their own,” larongeNOW reported. The carrier is contracting private producers for dedicated natural gas generation under Saskatchewan’s Bring Your Own Power policy.
Bell and the province recently outlined a non-binding memorandum to add up to 900 MW on top of the original 300 MW Sherwood project, creating a path to 1.2 GW that both sides frame as the largest capital investment in the province’s history. Full buildout, including tenant compute and power, could exceed $50 billion on Bell’s numbers, with a Bell AI Fabric head office planned in Saskatchewan and hundreds of permanent roles, according to the company’s release.
Landowners and critics have pressed on electricity, water, noise and light since the Sherwood green light. Premier Scott Moe compared cooling to a car radiator and said the plant uses less water than a hockey rink or golf course, without giving a hard water figure. Bell says the site uses sealed closed-loop cooling with air-cooled heat rejection, matching other Bell AI Fabric builds, with no municipal or groundwater draw for cooling.
Saskatchewan also pointed to more than 600 ongoing direct roles and more than 3,000 indirect jobs if the expansion lands.
Bring Your Own Power still isn’t signed. Neighbours near Sherwood will be watching that, and whether Bell really does pick up the electricity tab once the private generation clears environmental assessment.
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