ARC ENERGY IDEAS

This podcast is also available as a video on Youtube 

Data centres have faced growing public backlash in the United States. In Alberta, opposition has been less widespread, and the provincial government supports the industry, but communities are raising concerns. 
This week, our guests -Deirdre Sheehan, Partner and Co-Chair of the Regulatory, Indigenous and Environmental practice at Osler, and Marcus Rocque, Vice President of Research at the ARC Energy Research Institute, review the main concerns surrounding data centres, using the topics outlined in Premier Smith’s recent video as a guide:
What is a data centre, and why does Alberta want them?
Didn’t other places get burned by data centres?
How do Albertan’s actually benefit from these data centres?
Will my power bill go up?
What about water?
Who decides where these data centres get built?
Content referenced in this podcast:
Alberta Premier Smith video on six common questions on AI data centers
Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ 
Check us out on social media: 
X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst
LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute 
Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas Podcast
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
Spotify
YouTube
YouTube Music

This podcast is also available as a video on Youtube 
This week on the podcast, our guest is Dulles Wang, Director of Americas Gas and LNG Research at Wood Mackenzie. Dulles co-authored the report Defying Gravity: Why U.S. Henry Hub Natural Gas Prices Are Set to Rise. He is also bullish on the longer-term outlook for Alberta natural gas prices (AECO). 
The report comes as natural gas prices in the United States and Canada are depressed by abundant supply, especially in Canada, combined with an outlook for very warm winter weather. 
Here are some of the questions Jackie and Peter asked Dulles: After years of low natural gas prices and abundant supply, why do you expect prices to rise? Is there a risk that supply could surprise again and continue growing fast enough to keep pace with demand growth, despite low prices? How do warmer winters affect the outlook, given that they appear to be becoming more common, including expectations for this upcoming winter? What is your outlook for Alberta natural gas prices and Canadian LNG exports? This has been a big year for M&A involving U.S. shale gas assets, with a new group of buyers that includes Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC, Saudi Aramco, and Japanese companies. What is driving this trend, and do you expect it to come to Canada? 
Content referenced in this podcast: 
Mark Carney Forward Guidance: A Stronger Canada video (September 8, 2026) 
Wood Mackenzie report, Defying gravity: Why US Henry Hub natural gas prices are set to rise (July 2026) 
FT article, Scramble for gas assets pushes dealmaking to a decade high (August 30, 2026) 
Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ 
Check us out on social media: 
X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst
LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute 
Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas Podcast
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
Spotify

This week on the podcast, our guest is Vern Yu, President and CEO of AltaGas. AltaGas operates a midstream business focused on processing, transporting and marketing hydrocarbons, including natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs), such as propane and butane. The company also operates natural gas utilities in four U.S. states. 
Here are some of the questions Jackie and Peter asked Vern: Based on your experience, particularly in your previous role at Enbridge, how difficult was it to build oil pipelines in Canada historically, and are you optimistic that this is changing? How long has AltaGas been exporting liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) from Prince Rupert, and how much will volumes grow once the new Ridley Island Energy Export Facility (REEF) is completed? How would you describe Asian demand for LPGs and Canada’s competitive position relative to the United States and the Middle East? Is the growth of AltaGas’s LPG business dependent on aggressive natural gas production growth in Western Canada? AltaGas distributes natural gas in several U.S. markets through your utilities, including Virginia, a hot spot for data-centre growth. What are your growth expectations for data centres, given the growing opposition in Virgina? As a company operating in both Canada and the United States, and even supplying natural gas to the White House, how is the U.S.-Canada trade war affecting your business? 
Content referenced in this podcast: 
Video of construction at Ridley Island Energy Export Facility (REEF) on LinkedIn  
Enbridge Tour for Cancer (Register for 2027 and Donate) 
Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ 
Check us out on social media: 
X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst
LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute 
Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas Podcast
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
Spotify

The podcast is back after the summer break! Peter and Jackie begin with the escalating U.S.–Canada trade war, including renewed calls to use Canadian energy exports as leverage by reducing exports or imposing tariffs. Both approaches would hurt Canada more than the United States. They also discuss Canada’s new counter-tariffs, which take effect on September 8. 
Next, they examine oil markets as the Strait of Hormuz closes again. With tanker traffic low and difficult to track, and refined-product markets tight, uncertainty remains high, with risks seemingly skewed toward higher oil prices in the near term. 
They also discuss growing opposition to data centres, including permitting pauses in several U.S. states and local concerns about Meta’s planned development in Sturgeon County, Alberta. 
Peter and Jackie then review Canadian LNG and oil pipeline developments from over the summer. 
Finally, Graeme Edge, founder and CEO of Energy Disruptors, joins the podcast to preview the conference taking place in Calgary on September 28 and 29. 
Content referenced on this podcast: 
CAPP Data Hub and the specific Data Book titled “Canadian Imports of U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Refined Products”  
ARC podcast on the Impacts of Tariffs on Canadian Oil and Gas from January 14, 2025  
List of products from the United States subject to counter-tariffs effective September 8, 2026 - Canada.ca 
Calgary Herald article that Anthropic, maker of Claude, is looking to put boots on the Ground in Alberta (August 20, 2026) 
Alberta Premier Smith video on six common questions on AI data centers 
Montana Revokes Bridger Pipeline Waiver After Legal Challenge, Pipeline & Gas Journal, July 29, 2026 
The Pipeline Comes First, Studio.Energy, August 25, 2026  
Energy Disruptors conference information 
Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/ 
Check us out on social media: 
X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst
LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute 
Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas Podcast
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
Spotify

This week’s podcast is the final episode before Peter and Jackie take a summer break. The show will return to its weekly schedule in September. 
The episode begins with oil market news, as conflict with Iran flares up again and the Strait of Hormuz re-emerges as a critical chokepoint. Peter and Jackie discuss higher-than-expected global oil inventories at this point in the conflict, recent demand trends, and changes in China’s oil imports. While longer-term shifts, including substitution and the rerouting of oil around the Strait, are easier to anticipate, the short-term outlook remains highly uncertain. 
Next, they recap the Calgary Stampede pipeline announcements, including the proposed West Coast oil pipeline and the earlier-stage Alberta-to-Ontario project. They also revisit frequently asked questions raised in conversations with the media and industry over the past week. 
Finally, they review the news of Meta’s proposed $13 billion Alberta data centre project, along with the Greenlight Limited Partnership power project announced on July 2. They close by considering growing opposition to data centres, a topic Peter discussed at the Upper Bound conference in Edmonton this past May,  where he participated on a panel exploring what the AI industry can learn from the energy sector. 
Content referenced in this podcast:
Alberta’s West Coast Oil Pipeline Submission to the Major Projects Office (July 2, 2026) 
Jackie Forrest’s Globe and Mail op-ed “The Iran war, the Saudis’ bold bet and why Canada needs a new pipeline” (May 6, 2026) 
Jackie Forrest’s Globe and Mail op-ed “Finally, Canada steps up as the energy superpower the world needs it to be” (July 1, 2026) 
Chris Varcoe in the Calgary Herald “Meta unveils massive $13B, gigawatt-scale development in Alberta, Canada's largest data centre” (July 8, 2026) 
Meta’s Sturgeon Data Centre information  
Upper Bound conference in Edmonton, recording of the conference panel on What AI can learn from the energy sector’s scars that Peter Tertzakian participated in (held May 2026) 
A report by Data Center Watch on opposition (Q1 2026 update)
Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/
Check us out on social media:
X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst
LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute
Subscribe to ARC Energy Ideas Podcast
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
Spotify