A little-known US-based developer tied to a failed bitcoin business and a fraudulent-transfer lawsuit is quietly advancing Alberta’s latest gas-fired AI data centre proposal.
The 466MW Black Bear Power Project (BBPP) close to Swan Hills northwest of Edmonton has received little media coverage. This is surprising given it has changed proponents, quietly abandoned previous carbon capture and storage commitments, and would potentially add one million tonnes of annual emissions into our already fire-choked atmosphere for decades into the future.
The backstory of BBPP raises troubling questions about Alberta and AI oversight.
How could a billion-dollar gas-generation project rise from the regulatory grave under a completely different company while abandoning previous climate commitments? What does this reveal about the climate costs of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s memorandum of understanding with Alberta, which paved the way for the current AI data centre gold rush by hollowing out federal clean energy regulations?
When BBPP was approved by the Impact Agency of Canada in 2024, the proponent was Calgary-based Kiwetinohk Energy and the proposal included a commitment that the 460-megawatt gas plant would capture its carbon dioxide and pipe it to an underground storage hub.
