Beacon AI

September 11 2026

Minister says Lorneville data centre decision may be delayed by new policy

Katherine Del Salto News Beacon AI, data centre, Minister Jean-Claude D'Amours, New Brunswick, PETL, policy, Saint John, Spruce Lake Industrial Park, Voltagrid

Following the release of a new development framework for data centres, Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour Minister Jean-Claude D’Amours says the final decision for Lorneville’s proposed data centre will likely have to wait.

In an interview with Acadia Broadcasting last Thursday, D’Amours said there’s “a good chance” the province’s decision on the 390 MW data centre in Saint John’s Spruce Lake Industrial Park will be delayed until it can be informed by the finalized policy.

“We want to make sure that there’s sustainable development. We want to make sure that there are economic benefits, long-term impacts, but also positive community benefits,” he said.

“So, even if some projects continue in evaluation, the message right now to them is that they need to look at what we present to the population and understand that we will come with the policy sooner rather than later, and they will have to work with those new policies.”

The proponents of the proposed data centre in Lorneville are Calgary-based Beacon AI and Texas-based VoltaGrid.

The companies pitched the project in late 2025, after Saint John council rezoned a 120-hectare parcel of land as part of the Spruce Lake Industrial Park expansion to attract new industry to the city.

The proposal has sparked significant public opposition over concerns about its projected energy consumption and potential environmental and community impacts

The project is currently under regulatory review, and while D’Amours alluded that the proposal will be subject to the new policy framework, he said its evaluation process will proceed as normal.

Acadia Broadcasting reached out to Beacon AI co-founder Joseph Shovlin and VoltaGrid president and CEO Nathan Ough for comment, but the proponents did not respond.

D’Amours added that under the new policy, the province is moving away from evaluating data centre developments on a “first come, first served” basis, which is the system NB Power uses.

Instead, the government’s Growth Office, a central government unit established earlier this year to lead economic development, coordinate initiatives across departments, and accelerate major investment projects in the province, will oversee project evaluations to ensure a broader, “big-picture” assessment, D’Amours said.

“We really want to make sure that we will have a system in place, a policy in place that will reflect what we expected from proponents,” he said. “The objective is not to turn off business coming for no reason.”

However, D’Amours said NB Power will remain involved in discussions.

Province aims to finalize policy in the fall

The province unveiled the policy framework last week to guide the development of data centres.

The policy, developed by the Department of Post Secondary Education, Training, and Labour (PETL), was designed to protect electricity ratepayers, support responsible resource use, generate measurable economic and community benefits, promote environmental sustainability, and advance Canadian data sovereignty and artificial intelligence objectives.

D’Amours said the policy was also introduced as other provinces were already regulating industry.

“Other provinces already move in some direction, and we need to make sure our province is ahead in this file and make sure that we are doing the right thing,” he added.

According to the framework, proponents must meet five criteria for project approval, including covering all electricity costs without driving up rates for New Brunswickers, designing data centres sustainably, and generating new investment and jobs.

The government also said projects that deliver greater community benefits and stronger economic value will be given preference.

D’Amours said the province hopes to finalize the policy and introduce necessary legislative or regulatory modifications this fall.

The government is conducting a month-long public and stakeholder consultation to gather feedback from First Nations groups, municipalities and New Brunswickers to make the necessary changes.

D’Amours said the province is open to all feedback, adding that the consultation process will help shape details such as the evaluation criteria and the types of community benefits proponents may be expected to provide.

September 8 2026

Data centre critics cautiously optimistic about New Brunswick’s new policy framework

Katherine Del Salto News ai, Beacon AI, data centres, Donna Reardon, industry, Lorneville, New Brunswick, PETL, Saint John, Voltagrid

Opponents of data centres in New Brunswick say they are “hopeful” about the province’s new development framework, but argue it should have been introduced sooner.

The province unveiled the policy framework last week, aimed at protecting electricity ratepayers, promoting the responsible use of energy and water, generating economic and community benefits, supporting environmental sustainability, and advancing Canadian data sovereignty and AI objectives as interest in data centres continues to grow across the country.

The policy, developed by the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, also comes as Calgary-based Beacon AI and Texas-based VoltaGrid pursue plans for a 390-megawatt data centre in Saint John’s Spruce Lake Industrial Park. The project, announced in late 2025, remains under regulatory review.

The proposal sparked significant public opposition over concerns about its projected energy consumption and potential environmental and community impacts.

In a statement, activist group Resist Data Centre NB said it’s glad to see guidelines introduced, but believes they should have been in place before projects were proposed.

“This policy should have existed before any data centres were on the table for New Brunswick, and [this] demonstrates why us, the Greens, and many others are asking for a moratorium,” wrote the group in a statement. “These projects are moving ahead of policy and regulations. Lorneville is the perfect example.”

The policy must still be approved by the legislature, and the province is seeking public feedback before making any revisions ahead of debate during the fall legislative session.

The group believes the province already has the feedback that it needs from the thousands of people who joined their protests against data centres.

Resist Data Centres said that while the framework makes them hopeful, the proposed policy still leaves them with many questions.

The group also said it wants the final policy to include clear definitions and meaningful protections for New Brunswickers, with measurable standards, numerical thresholds, and consequences for non-compliance.

Saint John mayor welcomes policy

Like Resist Data Centres NB, Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon agreed that having provincial guidelines in place before the proposed Lorneville data centre would have been helpful. But said she is glad to see the policy framework come forward, adding that provincial leadership was needed as data centres become an increasingly prominent issue across the country.

“I’m seeing small towns, municipalities, big and small, trying to create a path forward, to put a moratorium, not put a moratorium, like nobody is really equipped or knows what to do in these situations,” she said. “I think we needed the leadership, so I was happy to see it.”

While Reardon said she is content with she’s seen so far, she said she would like to seek further clarification on what community benefits will look like.

Under the proposed policy, proponents would be required to clearly outline the benefits they plan to provide and explain how those commitments would be measured and evaluated. Those benefits could include commitments related to employment, training, infrastructure, community services, among others.

Reardon said she wants to determine whether proponents will be expected or required to contribute to the community beyond economic development, such as by investing in public spaces, supporting arts and culture initiatives, or providing other community benefits, adding that she believes industry should play a role in supporting the city.

Donna Reardon. PHOTO: Alex Allan/Acadia Broadcasting

“Industry can bring noise, dust, dirt and lighting, and it can bring trains and whistles and emissions, but it also brings jobs, and so you need to balance that,” she said. “It would be nice to balance that with a contribution to the betterment and development of the community that they decide to settle in.”

Although she said questions remain, Reardon believes the proposed framework addresses many of the concerns raised by residents and could help protect communities.

“I think with the province putting in all these measurables and key points in this policy framework, I think it helps to do that, in combination with the environmental impact assessment as well,” she said.

Reardon said she is looking forward to seeing how the policy develops. She added that her council will also inquire about potential rules or regulations around property tax.

Residents will have the opportunity to share their thoughts on the policy until Oct. 2 through a consultation website.

The province is also holding preliminary stakeholder consultations and said any legislative or regulatory changes will begin during the 2026-27 legislative session.

June 23 2026

Expert questions accuracy of air quality review for $2B data centre project

Katherine Del Salto News air quality, Beacon AI, environmental impact assessment, Lorneville, New Brunswick, Saint John, Voltagrid

An air quality expert says Spruce Lake’s proposed data centre environmental impact assessment missed key data.

Ann Jamieson, a recently retired atmospheric scientist and air quality dispersion modeller, argued the assessment failed to account for nearby pollution sources, particularly the Coleson Cove generating station.

She said that’s essential to understanding the project’s impact on local air quality.

Jamieson has more than 45 years of experience as a consultant for industry, and as a government regulator, primarily working in Alberta.

An environmental impact assessment of the $2-billion project, proposed by Calgary-based Beacon AI Centres and Texas-based Voltagrid, found it to have a low impact on air quality.

The report concluded that maximum predicted concentrations would remain at or below 28.8 per cent of applicable standards.

However, Jamieson said that conclusion is based on incomplete modelling.

She explained that standard practice requires combining emissions from both new developments and existing sources to assess cumulative impacts. In this case, that would include modelling Coleson Cove’s emissions alongside those from the proposed data centre.

Instead, the assessment modelled only emissions from the project itself. Existing pollution levels were estimated using data from a single monitoring station — an approach Jamieson said is unlikely to capture peak emissions.

“When you use monitoring data, you are only looking at the wind direction, and wind speed that blew the Coleson Cove plume directly to that monitoring trailer,” she explained. “There are many wind directions, many wind speeds, and many atmospheric conditions that occur over time, and the modelling will take that into account, but the monitoring data will not.”

Jamieson also criticized the modelling method used in the report. She said the assessment relied on AERMOD, a common dispersion model, rather than CALPUFF, which is better suited for coastal environments.

Because Coleson Cove has a high exhaust stack and is located near the coast, she said a more complex model is needed to account for coastal fumigation effects — where shifting winds and tides can bring emissions quickly down to ground level.

AERMOD may be appropriate in other contexts, she added, but not for a site located roughly seven kilometres from a large generating station.

Government stands by review process

Jamieson raised her concerns in a letter to municipal and provincial officials.

In the provincial government’s response shared by Jamieson via social media on May 29, Environment Minister Gilles LePage said the province’s Technical Review Committee found the assessment methods consistent with “established best practices and current regulatory expectations.”

The department also defended the use of monitored background data to estimate cumulative pollution, calling it a “standard and widely accepted approach,” particularly when detailed emissions data for all sources is not readily available.

Jamieson disputed that claim, noting that Coleson Cove reports its emissions annually through the federal National Pollutant Release Inventory. She said that data could have been incorporated into the modelling.

She also requested access to the assessment’s input and output datasets to verify the findings. The department declined, saying it does not typically require such data unless specific concerns arise during the review process.

In an email statement to Acadia Broadcasting on June 4, Department of Environment and Local Government spokesperson Vicky Lutes said clarifications regarding air quality considerations, including but not limited to air dispersion modelling inputs, have been requested from the proponents and would be made public once avaible, but those responses have not yet been shared.

LePage also encouraged Jamieson to reach out to the proponents of the project directly.

Acadia Broadcasting reached out to Nathan Ough and Joseph Shovlin, Voltagrid and Beacon AI’s respective co-founders, to request the data, and ask why the emissions of Coleson Cove weren’t modelled on June 6 but did not receive a response.

Outdated standards a broader concern

Beyond the assessment itself, Jamieson said the project highlights broader issues with New Brunswick’s air quality regulations.

She noted that evaluating projects in isolation has not been standard practice in most jurisdictions for more than 15 years, particularly when other emitters operate at least within five kilometres.

While the proposed facility may meet provincial standards on its own, she said it’s unclear whether it would still comply when combined with maximum emissions from Coleson Cove.

Jamieson stressed the need for a more thorough study to protect “the most sensitive of species.”

“Some of the most sensitive species are aquatic species, and so it’s important to make sure these are protected, especially in an area like Lorneville, where there are several wetlands,” she said.

Jamieson also raised concerns that the generating station could operate more frequently to meet increased demand from the development. The data centre is expected to require 390 megawatts of power, with 190 megawatts supplied by a proposed gas plant and the remainder potentially sourced from NB Power’s grid.

Coleson Cove typically runs during peak-demand periods — usually between December and April — and is otherwise mostly idle.

In that scenario, she said, modelling should incorporate “worst-case” emissions from Coleson Cove using its highest-emitting fuel.

The province’s standards themselves are also outdated, she added. New Brunswick has not updated its air quality limits since passing the Clean Air Act in 1997 and does not have its own dispersion modelling protocols.

By comparison, other jurisdictions have adopted stricter standards. For example, New Brunswick’s limit for nitrogen oxide concentrations is 400 micrograms per cubic metre, while Alberta’s is 300.

“Before the government approves any major facility, they need to improve their air quality assessment, protocols, and bring the air quality standards to date,” she said. “If they don’t everything that gets approved now will be grandfathered and it’ll be allowed to emit more than what the government now recognizes should be the standard.”

She also called for more comprehensive emissions monitoring across the province to ensure accurate data is available for future assessments.

Province reviewing air quality rules

Since 2023, the province has been considering modernizing the act’s standards, based on current science and technology, and to also strengthen the rules that protect air quality for communities across the province.

Recently, the Department of Environment and Local Government released a report summarizing feedback from more than 500 New Brunswickers, including First Nations, members of the public and stakeholders.

The report found low public awareness of the Clean Air Act, with 64 per cent of respondents unfamiliar with it. Many also described existing data as difficult to access or understand and expressed low confidence in current monitoring and reporting.

Other concerns included weak enforcement, a need for stronger air quality objectives and calls for independent verification of industry-reported emissions.

Indigenous participants advocated for a “two-eyed seeing” approach that incorporates both Indigenous and Western perspectives in environmental decision-making.

The province said it plans to use that feedback to update standards, expand the list of regulated pollutants and develop a science-based implementation plan, while continuing public consultations.

Jamieson argued those updates should be completed before considering large-scale industrial projects.

She is calling for a moratorium on developments she believes are “questionable” until stronger assessment protocols are in place.

“I’m all for industrial development in New Brunswick,” she said. “I just want to make sure it’s done in as clean a manner possible.”

The proposed data centre is currently under regulatory review. If approved, construction could begin later this year, with operations expected to start in 2028.

May 7 2026

Lorneville residents seek accountability on data centre impacts

Katherine Del Salto News Beacon AI, data centre, Lorneville, mayoral candidates, mayoral forum, Municipal elections, Saint John, Spruce Lake Industrial Park, Voltagrid

Lorneville residents say they are disappointed with how some mayoral candidates have responded to concerns about Beacon AI’s proposed data centre.

Those concerns were raised last week during the Human Development Council’s mayoral forum at the Imperial Theatre, where candidates discussed key issues facing Saint John.

Forum moderator Geoff Walsh, publisher of the community newsletter SJToday, described the project as a “contentious issue” as he asked incumbent Mayor Donna Reardon and incumbent Coun. Barry Ogden whether residents’ environmental concerns had been adequately addressed when council approved the zoning change in Lorneville.

Ogden said residents were not happy — and remain unhappy — with the decision that allowed the expansion of the Spruce Lake Industrial Park to attract more industry to the city.

While he said he is “uncomfortable” with the project, Ogden added he wants to see the results of the ongoing environmental review before taking a firmer stance.

Reardon also said she wants to wait for the completed environmental review to provide a more informed response to residents’ concerns.

She said council took appropriate steps to engage residents during the decision-making process, pointing to the creation of a task force that met directly with Lorneville residents.

The task force recommended “outlawing” certain types of development, including concrete plants and ashfall facilities. Reardon also said council consulted Indigenous partners and held a public hearing that took place over three evenings.

Documents were filed April 10 as part of the environmental impact assessment process.

According to the registered EIA documents, the proposed data centre would not place a significant demand on the city’s Spruce Lake industrial water supply but would require a substantial amount of power — about 390 megawatts.

The plan includes a natural-gas power generation facility capable of producing 190 megawatts, with NB Power supplying the remaining 200 megawatts.

The documents also state the data centre would use a “closed-loop” water-based cooling system that “significantly reduces overall water consumption compared to open-loop or evaporative cooling designs.”

Water use has been a key concern for residents, but Alberta-based Beacon AI Centres and Texas-based Voltagrid estimate the initial system infill would require about 3.5 million litres — a small fraction of what other industrial users consume in the city.

The EIA fillings also revealed the planned gas plant would produce more than 750,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, which if approved, will join New Brunswick’s highest emitters, just falling behind NB Power’s Belledune Generating Station, which produces over two million green house gases a year.

At the forum, however, residents raised concerns about the project’s energy demands.

While the companies plan to generate some of their own power, residents worry NB Power lacks the infrastructure to meet the remaining demand, potentially leading to higher electricity rates for customers.

According to other media reports, the utility said it wasn’t alarmed by the electricity needs of the proposed data centre, despite facing energy shortfalls.

Lorneville resident Lauren Smith attended the forum and said she is not satisfied with what she heard that evening.

Smith believes there was a lack of dialogue between the candidates and residents.

“Two questions for a whole auditorium of people, for a municipal election, is not sufficient,” she said. “We should be hearing from the public.”

Smith believes that the proposed data centre and gas plant could become a problem not only for Lorneville, but for the province, due to the estimated energy demand and gas emissions.

Smith added that she feels the onus has fallen on Lorneville to help inform the province of the potential repercussions approving the data centre could have on New Brunswick.

“We should be hearing this from the people that we’ve elected, but all we’re met with is silence,” she said.

Like Smith, Lorneville resident and member of advocacy group Save Lorneville, Chris Watson, said is “unacceptable” for Lorneville residents to know more about the development than the politicians that represent the community.

Chris Watson is a resident of Lorneville and a member of advocacy group Save Lorneville. PHOTO: CHRIS WATSON/SUBMITTED WITH PERMISSION.

He said with the municipal elections coming up, feeling heard on this issue will be a priority for the community. Watson said the community wants to see a mayor and council that scrutinizes the quality of the development and the long-term environmental burden.

“We want a mayor and counsellor in place that will actually scrutinize these businesses, and just not be dazzle by the marketing and the scale of promises, and the billions in capital investment,” he said.

Reardon said while she understands the community’s mistrust on the process, she said with the project being a $2 billion build, the potential $13 million in annual tax income could be reinvested in the community, to rebuild trust and provide benefits to Lorneville.

On the other hand, Ogden said during the environmental review, the province must ensure the project meets the environmental standards and should be transparent if power supply is an issue that will be put back into the customers.

In an interview with Acadia Broadcasting last Friday, candidate Blaine Harris said that he fully opposes the project, and if elected mayor he will engage council to put a full-stop to all permits, and revisit the zoning for the Industrial park.

Municipal elections are set to take place on May 11.