Overview
- EverWind announced a $10 billion Point Tupper campus on Friday, saying Anthropic has a long‑term lease and that the build will start with 95 megawatts in 2027, expand by 325 megawatts in 2028, and reach about 420 megawatts at full development.
- The announcement set off protests, a fast‑growing petition and calls from Nova Scotia’s NDP for an emergency legislative debate because residents and opposition politicians say there was inadequate consultation and no enforceable safeguards.
- EverWind and provincial officials say the developer will pay for required grid upgrades, install large battery storage and protect ratepayers, but critics and experts say those promises are not a substitute for binding regulation and independent impact studies.
- Across the region, NB Power confirmed it has 10 confidential data‑centre applications that could need up to 900 megawatts of power while several named New Brunswick proposals are under regulatory review, showing demand is converging on tight local grids.
- Global industry analysis warns that power, permitting and community pushback are already delaying or canceling many projects and that utilities will likely need major investment, which could slow rollout, raise costs, and shift how governments allocate electricity to data centres.