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Travers AI Data Centre Campus

Palliser Grid has submitted a concept for a hyperscale AI data centre campus with a planning target of up to 2,000 MW of IT load. Vulcan County approved industrial rezoning for 594.55 acres in June 2026, allowing the proponent to apply for a development permit. The rezoning is now challenged through a judicial review application, and the allegations have not been adjudicated. The rezoning does not approve the data centre, transmission infrastructure, water use or construction.

Palliser Grid
How to read this profilePublic recordProponent statementProponent projectionProponent projectionA forecast, target, estimate, or promised future outcome from the company proposing the project.The label identifies whose projection it is. It does not turn a future claim into an independently verified result or an enforceable approval condition.Learn more →ADCW context

Project facts

Core scale, approval, employment, and schedule information, labelled by the type of evidence available.

Proponent projection

Planning target

Up to 2,000 MW of IT load

The concept uses four potential 500 MW phases. This is not approved demand.

Sources [2]
Proponent projection

Concept scale

About 8 million square feet

The plan describes approximately 20 to 30 data centre buildings at full buildout.

Sources [2]
Public record

Rezoned land

594.55 acres

Council's final June 2026 amendment was smaller than the 865-acre area described at the earlier public-hearing stage.

Sources [3], [1]
Proponent projection

Earliest phase-one service

Second quarter of 2029

A target in the concept plan, subject to approvals, interconnection, financing and construction.

Sources [2]
Proponent projection

Employment estimate

Up to 1,000 construction; about 200 operations

These are planning estimates rather than employment commitments.

Sources [2]

Energy and emissions

The concept describes a new 500 kV substation, two transmission feeds, a large battery system and diesel emergency generation. None of those elements should be read as built, contracted or finally approved.

Important distinction: 2,000 MW is a proponent planning target for IT load. It is not an AESO connection approval, an operating measurement or proof that all four phases will be built.
Proponent projection

IT load

Up to 2,000 MW

A full-build planning target, divided into four potential 500 MW phases.

Sources [2]
Proponent projection

Grid connection concept

New 500 kV substation and two feeds

The plan references AESO and AltaLink processes but does not show a completed connection agreement or approval.

Sources [2]
Proponent projection

Phase-one battery concept

2,400 MWh

The plan proposes a four-hour lithium iron phosphate battery system. Final sizing and approval are not established.

Sources [2]
ADCW context

Emergency generationBackup generationBackup generators provide electricity when the normal supply is unavailable. They may also run for testing or maintenance.Installed capacity does not establish continuous operation, annual fuel use, or emissions. Operating hours and permit conditions are separate evidence.Learn more →

Diesel backup proposed; total unresolved

The concept contains backup and IT-load figures that do not align consistently across sections. ADCW does not publish a single backup total until they are reconciled.

Sources [2]

Water

The concept proposes water from the Bow River Irrigation District through Travers Reservoir and reuse of treated wastewater. Final demand, allocation, licence changes and infrastructure agreements remain unresolved. [2]

Proponent projection

Proposed source

Travers Reservoir / BRID

The concept anticipates an agreement and possible licence amendment. It does not establish an approved allocation.

Sources [2]
Proponent projection

Reuse concept

On-site wastewater treatment and cooling reuse

The plan proposes treating and reusing water, but a final campus water balance was not published.

Sources [2]
ADCW context

Comparable daily volume

Not yet defensible

The plan gives efficiency assumptions but not enough internally consistent, approved information for ADCW to add a daily volume to the province-wide total.

Sources [2]

Noise

Project-specific noise evidence is shown when it is available. A predicted sound level is not a measurement from an operating facility.

ADCW context

Project-specific noise evidence

Not publicly disclosed

Project-specific noise details were not found in the public sources reviewed.

Indigenous context

Data centre projects sit within treaty territories and places with longstanding First Nations and Métis connections. This section brings together the public record on treaty geography, Indigenous ownership, consultation, and community concerns. Treaty boundaries alone cannot tell us which communities may be affected or how they view a project.

ADCW context

Treaty geography

Treaty 7 territory

This geographic label does not establish which First Nations or Métis communities may be affected, whether project-specific consultation occurred or what positions communities hold. The reviewed municipal concept does not provide a complete consultation record.

Sources [5]

Approval and public process

The rezoning is now subject to a judicial review application alleging procedural fairness failures, including that Vulcan County approved an incomplete application, changed material available for public feedback without further engagement, and disclosed relevant planning information only after the public hearing. The allegations have not yet been adjudicated. The application is scheduled for September 29, 2026. Vulcan County and Eric Steeves, operating as Palliser Grid, are named as respondents and are expected to respond. A project-specific development permit and separate utility, water and environmental decisions would still be required.

Public record

Land-use decision

Rezoning approved June 17, 2026

The decision changed 594.55 acres from Rural General to Rural Industrial so a development-permit application can be considered.

Sources [3]
Public record

Public hearing

Completed

The County received submissions before returning the bylaw to Council for decision.

Sources [1]
Public record

Judicial review

Application scheduled September 29, 2026

The applicant alleges procedural fairness failures in the rezoning process and asks the Court of King's Bench to quash the decision. Vulcan County and Eric Steeves, operating as Palliser Grid, are named as respondents. The allegations have not been adjudicated.

Sources [4]
ADCW context

Data centre development permitDevelopment permitA municipality's approval allows a specified use or development on a particular site, subject to its land-use rules and any conditions.Separate provincial or utility approvals may still be needed. A permit does not establish that construction has begun or that the facility is operating.Learn more →

Not issued

Rezoning permits an application; it does not authorize construction.

Sources [1], [3]

Timeline

Observed decisions and future dates are kept distinct; projected milestones may change.

  1. Public record

    Palliser Grid submitted the rezoning application and campus concept to Vulcan County. [2]

  2. Public record

    Vulcan County held public-hearing stages on proposed Bylaw 2026-007. [1]

  3. Public record

    Council approved amended rezoning for 594.55 acres. [3]

  4. Public record

    The owners of Condominium Plan 9311680 filed a judicial review application alleging procedural fairness failures in the rezoning process. Vulcan County and Eric Steeves, operating as Palliser Grid, are named as respondents. The allegations have not been adjudicated. [4]

  5. Public record

    The originating application is scheduled in the Court of King's Bench of Alberta. The filing seeks an order moving the matter to Special Justice Chambers and judicial review of the rezoning decision. [4]

  6. Proponent projection

    The concept targets construction start, subject to approvals and project decisions. [2]

  7. Proponent projection

    The concept targets first-phase service. [2]

What we still don't know

Some details have not been made public or remain unresolved. We keep those gaps visible and update them when reliable information becomes available.

  • Whether Vulcan County will receive and approve a project-specific development permit.
  • The outcome and timing of the judicial review application challenging Bylaw 2026-007.
  • The final AESO connection request, system studies, transmission route and AltaLink approvals.
  • A reconciled emergency-generation design, fuel inventory and air-emissions estimate.
  • The approved water allocation, licence amendments, infrastructure owner and full campus water balance.
  • A project-specific Indigenous consultation and engagement record.
  • Committed customers, financing, final investment decision and binding construction schedule.
  • Final noise, traffic, stormwater, habitat and cumulative-effects studies.

Source record

Primary and official sources reviewed for this profile. Company disclosures support what the company said, not independent verification of future outcomes.

  1. Public Hearing Scheduled for Bylaw 2026-007

    Vulcan County · Municipal record · Updated 2026-06

  2. Travers AI Data Centre Campus concept plan

    Palliser Grid / Vulcan County · Municipal record · 2026-01

  3. Council Highlights: June 17, 2026

    Vulcan County · Municipal record · 2026-06-17

  5. Treaty Boundary dataset

    Government of Canada Open Government Portal · Government database · Modified 2026-06-29