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The County of Barrhead in Alberta, Canada, is proposing an amendment to its land-use bylaw to permit data centers on agricultural lands. The council approved the first reading with a unanimous 5-0 vote, and a public hearing is set for February 3.

This initiative follows a request from Axiom Oil and Gas, which plans to co-locate a 6MW off-grid power plant with a data center near its facility in Manola, primarily to support Bitcoin mining. The amendment will allow data centers as discretionary uses in agricultural districts, enabling evaluation based on site conditions and infrastructure.

It includes provisions for managing impacts from large computing facilities, such as setback requirements and noise assessments. Alberta's economic strategy is promoting data center development, with 29 projects seeking grid connections. The province recently introduced a bill to incentivize self-powered data centers, leading to increased interest from developers.