AI sector sees trade-off in B.C. energy policy that puts them in back seat for new power

B.C.’s new energy policy leaves the province’s rapidly growing artificial-intelligence sector essentially fighting for scraps when it comes to electricity to power its data centres, observers say.

The policy promises to allocate 300 megawatts of electricity for AI data applications and 100 megawatts for other data centres that will be awarded on a competitive basis. New cryptocurrency operations, however, will be barred from the grid.

Players in the industry see an uncomfortable trade-off within the terms of the policy change, which defines a place, although a limited one, for AI on B.C. Hydro’s grid.

Provincial Energy Minister Adrian Dix was upfront about the need to “prioritize vital growth in sectors like mining, natural gas and lowest-emission LNG” for the projects in natural resour