Beacon's $2B N.B. Data Center Plan Threatens Old-Growth Forest

For Lorneville, a coastal community near Saint John, the past two years have put a $2-billion data center proposal from Alberta-based Beacon Data Centers at the center of every neighbourhood conversation. As The Narwhal reports, the proposed 390-megawatt hyperscale facility would draw more than 10 per cent of New Brunswick's total electricity demand, a proportion that has driven opposition from residents, a Green Party leader, and at least one newly elected city councillor.

The project's energy plan is where the environmental math becomes contested. The proposal reportedly calls for 200 megawatts from the provincial grid and a 190-megawatt on-site natural gas plant to be built by Houston-based VoltaGrid. According to the reporting, that plant would emit roughly 750,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, placing it behind only the Irving Oil Refinery and the Belledune coal-fired generating station as a provincial emitter and adding roughly 6.6 per cent to New Brunswick's total greenhouse gas output. Green Party leader David Coon questioned whether the grid can accommodate the demand at all, saying "there isn't an extra 200 megawatts of capacity available on the grid to carry that load."

The physical footprint adds another dimension. The site would require clearing approximately 3.5 hectares of old-growth forest, including trees more than 300 years old and one specimen counted at 388 rings, and infilling 27 hectares of wetland. A 2025 email from a provincial hydrogeologist warned that the wetland work could affect community drinking wells. In exchange, the project would bring an estimated 1,200 jobs, mostly from construction, with just 210 permanent positions.

Saint John City Council voted unanimously in May 2025 to allow the industrial park expansion, despite dozens of speakers in opposition and only three in support. Residents subsequently filed for judicial review of the rezoning, arguing the decision was biased. Sherri Colwell-McCavour, a Lorneville resident who had campaigned against the project, was elected to city council in May 2026. Access-to-information documents obtained by The Narwhal show provincial officials were working to attract a data center to the area as early as October 2024, before residents were informed.

What the reporting does not address is how the judicial review will proceed or whether Beacon has proposed any environmental mitigation measures for the forest and wetland impacts. For practitioners watching AI infrastructure buildout, the pattern is one other smaller provinces will likely encounter: as hyperscale facilities move beyond established grid hubs in search of land and available power, the local tradeoffs become harder to contain within a job-count headline.