Blake Ellis/The Independent

As many as eight companies may be interested in setting up data centres in Lambton County.

And the prime site seems to be the former Lambton Generation Station site in Courtright.

Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong MP Marilyn Gladu was asked about the data centres Friday at AlumaPower where the announcement was made that two Sarnia companies would receive a combined $5 million in investment as both companies look to build their capacity.

Gladu spoke about the potential of a data centre being established within Sarnia-Lambton, as she took questions from the local media after the announcement.

“There is not just one company, there is seven or eight proponents that are looking at our area because we have everything they need,” said Gladu.

Even though a proposed development would have a closed cooling circuit, things like the availability of water, electricity and natural gas, puts Sarnia-Lambton in a good position to have a data centre built in the area, said the Liberal MP.

There is typically a lot of backlash to data centre projects. An Angus Reid study says 64 per cent of Canadians want provincial governments to limit large data centre developments.

Concerns range from the large amount of electricity and water some centres use, to the jet engine-like hum which comes from them once built.

Earlier this year, the provincial government introduce a Data Centre ‘playbook’ which said data centres would need to produce their own electricity and use a closed loop water system if it wanted to set up shop in Ontario.

Gladu said with the designs that are being looked at by investors looking at Lambton, there isn’t really any environmental concerns.

Gladu says the sites that are being examined include the former Ontario Power Generating site near Courtright.

With sites like that, she says, there is really nothing around it. “It is not like putting it into a residential area,” said Gladu.

Potential data centres have been discussed publicly during the municipal election campaign in St. Clair Township. At an all-candidates meeting on Sept. 29 in Corunna both Incumbent Mayor Jeff Agar and Acclaimed Deputy Mayor Steve Arnold talked of the possibility.

Arnold said the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership was undertaking an initiative to investigate whether Sarnia-Lambton should move forward with any type of data centre. He proposed the newly elected council meeting with the SLEP after the election to see whether the economic development agency stands and to see what type of resources St. Clair Township might need to make the establishment of a data centre work.

But not everyone is onboard with data centre construction here. Lambton County council passed a motion on Sept. 2 directing the county’s planning department to prepare a report on the potential impacts of artificial intelligence data centres within Lambton County.

The report will look at land use, zoning, electrical power supply and capacity, water consumption, environmental impacts, job creation and municipal infrastructure requirements.

It is hoped this report, due in 2027, will give municipalities within the county to evaluating future data centre proposals with the anticipated growth of artificial intelligence investment.

Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey first suggested investors were looking at Lambton for data centres in February.