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Brockton is backing the effort of another Bruce County municipality to advocate for increased municipal protections in Ontario’s proposed Data Centre Playbook.
Brockton council passed a motion at its meeting Tuesday to support Kincardine’s recommendations regarding Ontario’s Data Centre Playbook, and also called on the province to ensure municipalities “have a meaningful role in decisions concerning large-scale data centre developments within their communities.”
The motion passed by Brockton council also urged the province to ensure its Data Centre Playbook recognizes the importance of protecting prime agricultural lands, and that municipal taxpayers are protected from costs associated with data centre developments.
“I think it’s very important we have our say, or at least jump in and support other people who’ve had their say on what AI data centres should look like, if they happen to come to a municipality near you,” says Brockton Coun. Gregory McLean, who moved the motion.
The Ford government announced a framework for its draft “Data Centre Playbook” last month. According to a background document prepared by the province, the playbook will establish an “evidence-based, transparent, and consistent method to provide input into government’s decision to connect a regulated data centre to the electricity grid.”
The province solicited input on the draft framework, and a public comment period will close on Saturday. A government release says input received will help refine the final Data Centre Playbook, which is part of a broader Artificial Intelligence (AI) Industrial Strategy for Ontario set to be released this fall.
A data centre is a building that houses physical computer and networking components, to store, transmit and receive digital information. Data centre development is becoming increasingly common as private companies work to build out their AI infrastructure.
Kincardine council recently resolved to submit 13 recommendations to the province as part of its input process for the Data Centre Playbook. They are urging the province to ensure data centres require: formal municipal input and support, community benefit plans for host communities, adequate noise standards, plans to protect local water resources and have backup power generation.
The municipality of Kincardine also urged the province to ensure data centre proponents be required to demonstrate municipalities are not left with unrecovered costs related to infrastructure such as roads, water and wastewater and other potential growth-related impacts.
Transparency is another issue. Kincardine’s submission urged the Ontario government to ensure data centre developers offer adequate information about ownership, operation and governance, as well as “the nature of the data being processed.”