ºÃÉ«tv

"It's a warning that you've got to be a constructive and co-operative and collaborative partner in infrastructure development, which has always been the case," Avik Dey told analysts on a conference call Wednesday after the Edmonton-based company raised its dividend and reported a narrower quarterly loss. 

"Where we are on data centres is it's very front of mind for us just given the capital cost and magnitude of it, but I absolutely don't take it lightly. I think it just reaffirms the importance of engagement." 

Dey added that he expects opposition or support for data centres will be "locally driven" around particular projects. 

Leger's online survey of 1,505 ºÃÉ«tvs was conducted between July 10 and July 13. The ºÃÉ«tv Research Insights Council, an industry organization that promotes polling standards, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

Data centres house the computing hardware needed to make a variety of tech applications run. With breakneck growth in artificial intelligence, the facilities have been growing to mind-boggling proportions. So too has their thirst for power, with many investing in adjacent electrical plants big enough to power a city. 

The Alberta government has been eager to attract so-called hyperscale developers to set up shop in the province, but local concerns have been raised about water use, noise and utility bills. The province is prioritizing developers that provide their own power supply so as not to overstrain the grid. 

Earlier this month, tech giant Meta Platforms Inc. announced a $13-billion plan to build a data centre complex north of Edmonton, linked to a new gas-fired power plant to be built by Pembina Pipeline Corp., Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management. 

The data centre is expected to be up and running ahead of the power plant, so Meta has secured other power supplies, including from Capital Power. It has reached a long-term energy supply agreement for the Meta data centre, with 250 megawatts of electricity available in the second half of 2028.

"It converts existing merchant power generation into stable, long duration contracted cash flows, and it does so with no capital investment," Dey said.

"Additionally, the agreement is at the portfolio level and does not encumber any of our assets."

Dey said talks are ongoing with prospective data centre partners who could build their facilities adjacent to its Genesee gas-fired plant west of Edmonton. 

"We're having multiple conversations today around how and when and at what quantum to develop that site."

Earlier Wednesday, Capital Power reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $44 million in its latest quarter, amounting to 33 cents per share. That compared with a net loss of $132 million, or 92 cents per share in the second quarter of last year.

It said it will now pay shareholders a quarterly dividend of 70.48 cents per share, up from 69.10 cents per share.

Adjusted funds from operations — a measure Capital Power says reflects its ability to fund growth, repay debt and pay dividends — was $328 million, or $2.09 per share, up from $235 million, or $1.55 per share in the year-earlier quarter. 

Revenues and other income for the quarter were $740 million, up from $441 million in the second quarter of 2025. 

This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published July 29, 2026.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CPX)