Make data centres pay for BC’s next power plant.
Data centre companies want to build in BC. Instead of capping them at a fixed amount of power, BC can have them pay for new generation and transmission. We get more power and more jobs, and your bill doesn’t carry it.
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The opportunity
Data centres are one of the biggest building booms in the world. BC can get its share, on its own terms.
- US$300B+ Alphabet’s and Meta’s 2026 spending plans, driven by AI Fortune
- C$13B Meta’s new data centre in Alberta, its first in Canada Reuters via KELO
- 15 data centre projects asked to connect in BC this year BC Hydro
BC caps data centres when it could make them build.
Since February 2026, new data centres on BC Hydro’s grid compete for a fixed amount of power. Here is that amount next to what they asked for and what one large campus uses.
Data centres asked for about 800 MW. The rules let BC Hydro offer 400, and no more than 145 to any one project.
We need more power anyway. BC Hydro expects demand to grow about 15% by 2030, and a power shortfall by then. The question is who pays to build the new supply.BC Hydro · Financial Post via EnergyNow
Other places already set terms. Quebec proposes about double the rate for large data centres. Alberta moves projects that bring their own power to the front of the line.Hydro-Québec · Government of Alberta
Keep control of our data. Data in a Canadian data centre run by a foreign company can still fall under foreign law. BC can give priority to Canadian-controlled capacity.Government of Canada
Want our power? Pay to build more of it.
They pay to connect
Data centres fund new generation and transmission before they plug in, through long-term contracts, upfront payments or a share in new power projects. Ohio and Oregon already require long-term minimum payments.AEP Ohio · OPB
Your bill stays out of it
Large users pay the full cost of the power and lines they need. No subsidies and no tax breaks. Microsoft and OpenAI have made this pledge in the US. BC should make it a rule.Microsoft · Reuters via MarketScreener
Build it here, on our terms
Strict water limits with public reporting, reuse of waste heat, First Nations ownership in the new power, and priority for Canadian-controlled capacity.BC Gov News
BC gets more power for everyone, and the companies that need it pay for it.
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Make data centres pay their way, and help pay ours.
Power bills are British Columbians’ top worry. Here is a deal that turns that around: data centres fund new power for the whole grid, so supply grows for homes and businesses too.
- A data centre asks to connect. It wants power from BC Hydro’s grid.
- It pays for new supply that joins the grid. New generation and lines, paid for up front or through long-term contracts. Ireland already requires this: a new data centre must bring power covering its whole connection, and sell it into the market. Philip Lee, on Ireland’s CRU rule
- The grid grows for everyone. Homes and businesses get new power too, paid for by the companies that need it most.
A win for everyone
Households
88%
of British Columbians worry data centres could raise power bills. Under this deal, data centres fund the new supply, so the grid grows without landing on your bill.
Leger, July 2026 (BC sample: 151 people)
BC
1,500 jobs
from BC’s last call for power alone, in projects with 51% First Nations ownership. Data centre money can build more of them, and the sites pay property tax.
Data centres
~800 MW
is what 15 projects asked BC Hydro for, with 400 on offer. A clear rule gives them a way in: pay for the new supply you need, and you can connect.
What about water?
BC has it
#1 in Canada
BC’s coast has the highest water yield in Canada, per square metre. Canada has about 104,000 cubic metres of renewable fresh water per person.
New designs barely use it
125M litres
a year saved at each new Microsoft data centre, about 50 Olympic pools. Since August 2024 its designs cool with a sealed loop instead of evaporating water.
BC can enforce it
Licence
Any industry that draws groundwater already needs a provincial water licence. BC can require closed-loop cooling, metered use and public water reports as a condition of connecting, and cap use in drought years.
Other places already set terms
- Quebec proposes a rate for new data centres over 5 MW of about 13¢/kWh, roughly double what other large customers pay. Hydro-Québec
- Alberta moves projects that bring their own generation to the front of the line. Government of Alberta
- Ohio makes data centres pay for at least 85% of their peak demand each month, even if they use less. AEP Ohio
- Oregon created a separate rate class for users over 20 MW, so they pay their share of the costs. OPB
Data centres and your hydro bill: fair questions
Won’t data centres raise my hydro bill?
They can, if they connect without paying for the new supply they need. In some US states, bills have risen with data centre growth, and BC’s 2025 law to cap data centre power pointed to that. This campaign asks for the opposite: data centres pay the full cost of new generation and transmission, so the grid grows without raising your bill.Hansard, Oct 23, 2025 · Hydro-Québec
Doesn’t BC already have a power shortage?
BC is tight on power. BC Hydro expects demand to grow about 15% by 2030 and a shortfall by then, even before new data centres. We need new supply either way. If data centres help pay for it, we get it sooner and households pay less of it.BC Hydro · Financial Post via EnergyNow
What about water?
BC has a lot of water: its coast has the highest water yield in Canada, per square metre. Newer data centres also use far less. Microsoft’s designs since August 2024 cool with a sealed loop, and each site avoids more than 125 million litres a year. BC can lock that in. Any industry drawing groundwater already needs a provincial water licence, so the province can require closed-loop cooling, metered use and public water reports, and cap use in drought years.Statistics Canada · Microsoft · Government of BC
Do data centres create jobs?
Not many once they’re running. The bigger gains are building the new power plants and lines, and the property tax the sites pay. BC’s last call for power alone is expected to create 1,500 jobs.BC Gov News
Why not a moratorium on data centres?
A pause leaves BC short of power and sends the investment elsewhere. A “pay to connect” rule does the opposite: a project only connects if it pays for the new supply it needs, so the grid grows and household bills don’t carry it.
Isn’t this already decided?
No. The cap comes from Bill 31 (2025) and the Data Centre Facility and Hydrogen Production Facility Power Supply Regulation (B.C. Reg. 8/2026). That regulation is set by cabinet, so the new government can change it without a new law. BC Hydro has not announced which projects get power.B.C. Reg. 8/2026 · BC Hydro
Why email instead of signing a petition?
An email from someone in the riding, with an address, goes straight to the MLA’s office and shows a real constituent cares. A petition name is one of thousands.
Who’s behind this?
Just me, Nicholas Rempel. I’m a British Columbian who pays a BC Hydro bill, and I built this on my own time. I work in tech, so I know what data centres need, and I think they should pay for it. No data centre company, utility or political party funds this, and nobody pays me to do it. Questions or corrections: hello@growthegrid.ca.