- Alberta confirms a 2% levy from computer equipment in massive data centers
- Data centers with 75 megawatts charges or new higher charges
- Levy should start on December 31, 2026 throughout the province
The Canadian province of Alberta has confirmed plans to introduce a 2% levy on the computer equipment used in large data centers.
The measure should take effect on December 31, 2026 and will apply to installations with a charge of at least 75 megawatts.
The government notes that the levy is not intended to become a permanent additional burden, because once a data center becomes profitable and begins to pay taxes on companies, the costs will be compensated.
How can operators affect operators
Large data centers depend on high performance systems, ranging from servers equipped with the largest SSD networks to storage racks optimized for cloud storage.
These installations already operate on tight margins during the first years of deployment, when material spending is at their peak.
2% fees on this equipment could influence the calculations on the place where to build, in particular since the rival jurisdictions in North America have competition in an aggressive manner to attract investments.
The question of whether the Alberta’s compensation mechanism is sufficient to reassure operators remains an open question.
However, the province has become a favorite destination because of its relatively cheap natural gas supplies, because more than two dozen data centers proposals, totaling more than 12,000 megawatts of demand, have already been submitted to the operator of the Alberta electric system.
This wave reflects confidence in the energy availability of Alberta, but the levy introduces a new variable in decision -making.
If the costs increase, the attraction of abundant energy may no longer be sufficient to obtain new projects.
The levy is not the first attempt of Alberta to control the rate of growth of the data center, as sooner in 2025, its provincial network operator capped new connections for “major load projects” at 1,200 megawatts until 2028.
This decision caused the opposition of certain indigenous communities, which argued that restrictions could prevent them from continuing their own digital infrastructure investments.
When consulted alongside the new sample, these policies suggest a regulatory environment of tightening which could complicate the long -term planning of operators.
Alberta is now faced with a delicate balance because the tax could guarantee that large -scale operators contribute more directly to provincial income.
This could also result in additional costs and restrictions that can encourage companies to explore alternatives in other provinces or through the border.
Via Bloomberg
