Western Canada · Data Center Pipeline Intelligence

Track every megawatt before procurement closes.

BLACKSTART turns AESO load queues, BC Hydro CFD commitments, SaskPower contracts, regulatory filings, and municipal permits into early commercial signals — months before construction starts. Built for HV electrical, switchgear, mechanical, fiber, and security vendors building Western Canada's data centers.

24
Projects Tracked
14GW
Pipeline Capacity
$50B+
Announced Capex
3
Western Provinces
Greenlight · 907 MW Keephills · 230 MW CAL-3 · 90 MW Bell BC · 26 MW Bell SK · 300 MW
AESO Phase 1 closed 1,200 MW allocated to two projects Pembina + Kineticor + Beacon · 907 MW TransAlta + CPP + Brookfield · 230 MW Bell AI Fabric BC · 6 facilities · 500 MW Bell Sherwood SK · $12B · 300 MW Wonder Valley · 7,500 MW · pre-construction Capital Power Polaris · 1,500 MW frame Crusoe · 3 sites · ~$1B each AESO Phase 1 closed 1,200 MW allocated to two projects Pembina + Kineticor + Beacon · 907 MW TransAlta + CPP + Brookfield · 230 MW Bell AI Fabric BC · 6 facilities · 500 MW Bell Sherwood SK · $12B · 300 MW Wonder Valley · 7,500 MW · pre-construction Capital Power Polaris · 1,500 MW frame Crusoe · 3 sites · ~$1B each
Section 01 · The Gap

Two projects took 95% of Alberta's near-term capacity.
If you don't know which, you're already late.

AESO opened a 1,200 MW interim allocation to absorb the data center surge. By July 2025 it was gone — consumed by two megaprojects whose contractor and vendor stacks aren't in any public registry. That's the gap BLACKSTART closes.

94.7%
of AESO Phase 1 captured by 2 projects

By late July 2025, AESO's 1,200 MW interim limit for large-load projects was fully allocated. The remaining 16+ GW of pending data center demand goes to Phase 2 — a framework still being built. Vendors who win contracts at the Phase 1 sites lock up the entire 2027-2028 buildout cycle.

AESO Phase 1 · Allocated

907 MW
Greenlight Electricity Centre
Pembina · Kineticor · OPTrust · Beacon · Meta
230 MW
TransAlta Keephills DC
TransAlta · CPP Investments · Brookfield
~63 MW
Smaller Phase 1 allocations
Distributed
Phase 1 Total
1,200 MW · gone
Section 02 · The Pipeline

Every project, scored.
Sorted by what you can sell to.

The "Buildable Now" view filters out operating facilities and announcements without a credible path to construction. What's left is the actual sales pipeline for HV electrical, switchgear, mechanical, fiber, and security vendors.

#
Project
Region
Stage
MW
BuildReadiness
01
eStruxture CAL-3
eStruxture Data Centers · Rocky View County
AB
Construction
90
94
02
TransAlta Keephills DC
TransAlta + CPP + Brookfield · Parkland County
AB
Pre-construction
230 → 1,000
91
03
Bell AI Fabric — Kamloops TRU
Bell Canada · Thompson Rivers University
BC
Construction
26
88
04
Greenlight Electricity Centre
Pembina/Kineticor JV · Sturgeon County · Meta customer
AB
Pre-construction
907
88
05
Bell — RM of Sherwood
Bell Canada / Government of Saskatchewan · $12B
SK
Pre-construction
300
87
Top 5 of 55+ tracked · 50+ more projects behind a subscription · Updated daily from primary sources
Section 03 · BuildReadiness Score

Every project gets a BuildReadiness score from 0 to 100.
We show you why.

No black-box ranking. Seven weighted components, with rubrics, cited evidence, a confidence cap, and a hard penalty when the proponent is undisclosed. Open the workings on every project page.

0
/ 100 · BuildReadiness

Greenlight Electricity Centre — sample score with disclosed proponent and high confidence.

Power Secured
100 = DTS executed / operating · 80 = Phase 1 allocation · 50 = behind-meter gen · 30 = in queue · 10 = announced only
30%
Land Control
100 = title transferred · 80 = LOI/option signed · 50 = site identified · 20 = region only
15%
Zoning
100 = industrial in place · 70 = rezoning approved · 40 = application submitted · 20 = greenfield
10%
Permitting
100 = DP issued · 70 = DP submitted · 40 = pre-application · 0 = no filing
10%
Capital Commitment
100 = financing closed · 70 = capex publicly committed · 40 = capex announced · 10 = general PR
15%
Proponent Track Record
100 = 5+ DCs operated · 70 = 1-4 DCs · 40 = adjacent industry · 20 = new w/ backers
15%
Timeline Credibility
100 = construction underway · 80 = realistic 12-18mo · 50 = aggressive · 20 = aspirational
5%
Section 04 · Sample Profile

One project. Every signal.

A subscriber sees this on every project page — full stakeholder map, AESO interconnection status, municipal filings, land titles, capex history, and the score breakdown with sourced evidence.

AB Pre-construction Phase 1 Winner

Greenlight Electricity Centre

Sturgeon County · Alberta's Industrial Heartland · 1.8 GW gas + 1.8 GW DC complex
88
BuildReadiness
907 MW
AESO Phase 1
2027·Q1
Grid Target
L
Vendor Tier

Joint venture between Pembina Pipeline Corporation and Kineticor Holdings (an OPTrust portfolio company), with Beacon Data Centers as data center development partner and a named Meta as the hyperscaler customer. Sited in Alberta's Industrial Heartland on land already zoned for heavy industrial use, near transmission, carbon sequestration, and fiber.

AESO allocated 907 MW to Greenlight in mid-2025 — by far the largest single Phase 1 allocation. The power generation facility is in Stage 3 of the AESO interconnection process and is targeting grid interconnection in early 2027.

Score breakdown
100
Power
90
Land
100
Zone
60
Permit
90
Capital
70
Track
80
Time

Stakeholders

Power Gen
Pembina Pipeline (50%)
TSX:PPL · Public
DC Dev
Kineticor Holdings (50%)
OPTrust portfolio co.
DC Partner
Beacon Data Centers
Local data center developer
Customer
Meta Platforms
NASDAQ:META · Named hyperscaler
Capital
OPTrust
Ontario Public Service Pension

Project Timeline

2025-02-27
Pembina + Kineticor JV announced
2025-07-21
AESO Phase 1 · 907 MW allocated · DTS executed
2025 → 2026
Stage 3 AESO interconnection · permitting underway
2027 · Q1
Grid interconnection target
2027 → 2030
Phased data center buildout · up to 1.8 GW

Vendor Opportunities

HV electrical · switchgear · transformers · gas turbine commissioning · cooling · fiber backhaul · security integration · industrial water · civil earthworks

Sources cited on this page

AESO Large Load Projects · Pembina news release Feb 27, 2025 · Stocktitan PBA filing · DCD coverage Mar 2025 · Globe & Mail
Section 05 · Access

Operator-grade pipeline intelligence.
Built for vendors selling into Western Canada's data centers.

Try the live demo with no signup, or pull our public JSON API directly. Paid access unlocks the full operator console, sortable filters, CSV/JSON exports, and per-project PDF deep-dives.

Free tier: /demo read-only view · /api JSON endpoints · scores.json · no signup · contact us for pricing

The pipeline is moving.
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