Growing up in Calgary, 22-year-old Max McGivern was naturally drawn to Canada’s energy industry.

Now a political science student at the University of Calgary, he’s motivated to contribute to the sector by helping build knowledge and pride among young Canadians.

“It’s the beating heart of Canada. We’re really lucky to have such a massive surplus of natural resources, and to have a mindset that we develop them responsibly,” McGivern said. 

“It is being handled by the previous generation right now, but there will come a time when it’s our turn. It will become ours, so we need to know how to manage it effectively.”

For the past two years, McGivern has worked as a summer student with Young Canadians for Resources, a national youth-led advocacy organization focused on Canada’s natural resource sectors and their role in the economy.

“You get exposed to the discussion of natural resources and you get to discuss with other like-minded people, or even with people who don’t fully agree with natural resources,” McGivern said.

“It’s been immensely positive, and it’s been pretty transformative.”

McGivern has learned that energy is about more than just what comes through an electrical outlet.

“I understand that different elements go into energy, rather than just, like, cool, my phone is charged,” he said.

“It’s more than just, drill a hole, get some oil.”

Recent polling shows that young Canadians are interested in growing the country’s energy sector.

A December Ipsos survey found that 82 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 believe Canada should prioritize expanding oil and gas exports to other countries.

“It’s our responsibility to develop it, to get it to our neighbors. And you know that we will see prosperity. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” McGivern said.

He believes the future will bring greater cooperation and a deeper recognition of the role energy from all sources plays for Canadians.

“The more people understand the importance of energy and the role of energy in our lives, the better,” McGivern said.

“I think there’ll be more energy projects. Not just things like LNG, but that might be more wind farms, more geothermal. Even just with time, there are more technological innovations, so we’ll figure out more ways to harness different energies.”

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More than a century after its founding, the former ghost town of Nordegg, Alta. is getting natural gas service, promising lower costs and more reliable energy for homes and businesses.

“Natural gas will be a huge game changer, especially for commercial use,” said Clearwater County Reeve Michelle Swanson.

The former coal mining town is no stranger to cold winters. During Alberta’s cold snap in January 2024, the hamlet broke its cold weather record reaching a bone chilling -45.8 degrees Celsius.

In the 1920s, Nordegg — tucked into the foothills of the Rockies about two hours west of Red Deer — was home to Alberta’s most productive coal mine, a fuel supply primarily for steam locomotives.

But demand declined following the Leduc No. 1 oil discovery in 1947, and the mine closed in 1955.   

The population dwindled from a peak of nearly 3,000 people to as few as 27 at one point, said Swanson.

Today, about 90 people call the hamlet home, and the future is looking brighter.

“We’re slowly building up. We have more full time residents. We have businesses that are looking to locate there, a couple hotels. Tourism is the area’s primary industry,” Swanson said. 

By adding access to natural gas and installing new fibre optic internet, Nordegg will be able to sustain new growth and attract development, she said.

In July, the Alberta government announced $2.5 million in funding to help build an 11-kilometre pipeline connecting the hamlet to a nearby gas plant. The $8-million project is also funded by the county and the Rocky Gas Co-Op. 

With the new gas connection, residents could save up to 25 per cent on their utility bills, according to the province.

Swanson said that right now people in Nordegg get their energy from electricity, wood and propane. 

“Electricity is the primary heat source, and your secondary is wood stoves and most of the businesses are also running off propane, because of the costs of electricity,” she said. 

The biggest benefit of connecting to natural gas is reliability, she said. 

“Number one is having the predictability that gas provides. It is going to be there on time. Propane, I mean, you can run out,” Swanson said.

Safety is another big factor in a region that can be prone to wildfires.

“I know our firefighters were worried that a wildfire could set off a lot of propane explosions, and that’s not helpful,” she said. 

“At the end of the day to me, it’s all about the fact that you’re creating a safer community, and you’re having a more predictable fuel source.”

Pipeline construction began in February and is targeted for completion this fall.

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Billions of investment in new data centres is still expected in Alberta despite the province’s electric system operator placing a temporary limit on new large-load grid connections, said Carson Kearl, lead data centre analyst for Enverus Intelligence Research. 

Kearl cited NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s estimate from earlier this year that building a one-gigawatt data centre costs between US$60 billion and US$80 billion.

That implies the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO)’s 1.2 gigawatt temporary limit would still allow for up to C$130 billion of investment.  

“It’s got the potential to be extremely impactful to the Alberta power sector and economy,” Kearl said. 

Importantly, data centre operators can potentially get around the temporary limit by ‘bringing their own power’ rather than drawing electricity from the existing grid. 

In Alberta’s deregulated electricity market – the only one in Canada – large energy consumers like data centres can build the power supply they need by entering project agreements directly with electricity producers.

According to the AESO, there are 30 proposed data centre projects across the province.

The total requested power load for these projects is more than 16 gigawatts, roughly four gigawatts more than Alberta’s demand record in January 2024 during a severe cold snap. 

For comparison, Edmonton’s load is around 1.4 gigawatts, the AESO said.

“Alberta has never seen this level and volume of load connection requests,” CEO Aaron Engen said in a statement. 

“Because connecting all large loads seeking access would impair grid reliability, we established a limit that preserves system integrity while enabling timely data centre development in Alberta.”

As data centre projects come to the province, so do jobs and other economic benefits.

“You have all of the construction staff associated; electricians, engineers, plumbers, and HVAC people for all the cooling tech that are continuously working on a multi-year time horizon. In the construction phase there’s a lot of spend, and that is just generally good for the ecosystem,” said Kearl.

Investment in local power infrastructure also has long-term job implications for maintenance and upgrades, he said. 

“Alberta is a really exciting place when it comes to building data centers,” said Beacon AI CEO Josh Schertzer on a recent ARC Energy Ideas podcast. 

“It has really great access to natural gas, it does have some excess grid capacity that can be used in the short term, it’s got a great workforce, and it’s very business-friendly.” 

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