The Municipality of Kincardine is advocating for increased local involvement and enhanced environmental and financial protections as Ontario formulates guidelines for large data centres.
<p. During its meeting on August 26, the Council reviewed the province’s proposed Data Centre Playbook and instructed staff to put together a set of recommendations before the provincial consultation concludes.
The municipality clarified that these recommendations do not suggest whether Kincardine would support a data centre planned for the area.
“The intent of the discussion was not to establish a municipal position in support of, or in opposition to, data centre development within the Municipality of Kincardine,” the municipality said in a release. “Rather, its intention was to provide recommendations to the province that may strengthen the final framework for evaluating and managing this form of development.”
One key recommendation is that formal municipal approval should be required before any data centre can get provincial consent to connect to Ontario’s electrical grid.
“Provincial grid connection approval for a data centre should recognize the municipality’s role in land use planning, infrastructure capacity, servicing and assessing local community impacts,” the release said.
Kincardine also wants developers of data centres to demonstrate how they will reduce water usage. The council suggested implementing water-efficient cooling technologies, such as closed-loop systems, to lessen dependence on municipal drinking water.
The municipality seeks enforceable standards concerning continuous and low-frequency noise levels as well as regulations regarding diesel and natural-gas backup generators. These rules could include emissions reporting, operational limits, and consideration of lower-emission options like battery storage.
Council mentioned that municipalities shouldn’t bear costs related to roads, water and wastewater infrastructure, emergency services, utility upgrades or extra planning and building services.
“Proponents should demonstrate that municipalities will not be left with unrecovered costs” resulting from a development, the municipality stated.
Kincardine is also requesting that the province mandates community-benefit plans with measurable commitments around local hiring, training programs, contributions to infrastructure, partnerships, and community investment initiatives.
The council emphasized that economic value from developments shouldn’t only focus on construction activity generated.
“Economic benefits should be measured through permanent employment, local workforce participation, training and apprenticeships, not solely short-term construction jobs,” the release noted.
Additional recommendations cover transparency regarding facility ownership and operations along with electronic waste disposal protocols, decommissioning plans, and preparedness for emergencies.
Ontario is welcoming public feedback on the proposed Data Centre Playbook until September 12. The resulting guidelines are anticipated to help manage where data centres can be established and what types of projects may receive approval.
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