O'Leary's 15GW AI Bet Faces Power and People Hurdles

MIAMI, FL – February 17, 2026 – In a bold move to capitalize on the voracious energy demands of artificial intelligence, O'Leary Digital, chaired by celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary, has announced a monumental plan to develop a 15-gigawatt powered compute platform across two massive campuses in Utah and Alberta, Canada.

The project, dubbed "Wonder Valley," aims to create what the company believes is the "largest integrated powered compute infrastructure development currently underway globally." The plan involves a 7.5-gigawatt campus in Box Elder County, Utah, developed through a new joint venture with West GenCo LLC, and a parallel 7.5-gigawatt campus in Grande Prairie, Alberta, where permitting is now underway. Together, the sites span approximately 26,000 acres, an area earmarked to serve the insatiable appetite of AI and hyperscale cloud providers.

"We have under development approximately 26,000 acres across two jurisdictions with the infrastructure necessary to support power generation and compute capacity at scale," said Kevin O'Leary, Chairman of O'Leary Digital, in a statement. The company has assembled a roster of high-profile partners, including Gensler for architecture, Clayco and PCL Construction for construction management, and KPMG for financial advisory, signaling a serious push to turn this ambitious vision into reality.

However, behind the staggering numbers and blue-chip partnerships, the project faces significant hurdles, from intense market competition and immense environmental questions to growing opposition from Indigenous communities.

An Arms Race for AI Dominance

O'Leary Digital's announcement does not exist in a vacuum. It is the latest and one of the largest salvos in a global "arms race" among tech giants and developers to build the infrastructure backbone for the AI revolution. The power requirements for training and running advanced AI models are astronomical, with AI workloads demanding up to ten times the power density per rack as traditional computing.

Market projections underscore the urgency. Research from Goldman Sachs forecasts global power demand from data centers will surge by 165% by the end of the decade, with AI as the primary driver. This has pushed hyperscale companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon Web Services into a spending frenzy. Microsoft has plans to invest $80 billion in AI-enabled data centers in fiscal 2025, while Meta has committed up to $65 billion for its own infrastructure build-out. In India, the Adani Group has pledged $100 billion by 2035 for a 5-gigawatt renewable-powered data center platform.

While O'Leary's 15-gigawatt initial plan is undeniably massive, it enters a high-stakes arena where competitors are deploying capital on a scale that reshapes entire economies. The success of Wonder Valley will depend not only on building the infrastructure but also on securing anchor tenants from a small pool of hyperscale giants who are themselves aggressively building their own proprietary facilities.

"We have developed repeatable campus designs...while preserving the flexibility to collaborate directly on specific power and infrastructure requirements," said CEO Paul Palandjian, highlighting a strategy that combines standardization with customization to attract tenants.

The Energy and Environmental Equation

The central challenge for any multi-gigawatt data center campus is securing a reliable, massive source of power. O'Leary Digital's plan for integrated, on-site power generation directly addresses this bottleneck, but the chosen energy source for its Alberta campus is already drawing heavy scrutiny.

The 7.5-gigawatt Wonder Valley Alberta project is reportedly planned to run primarily on local natural gas, supplemented by geothermal energy. This has raised alarm among environmental groups and analysts. According to some projections, the fully operational facility could consume up to 10% of Alberta's total natural gas supply. The associated greenhouse gas emissions could be so significant as to potentially reverse two decades of emission reductions in the province, returning its carbon footprint to levels not seen since the "coal era."

Furthermore, the water requirements for cooling such a massive complex are projected to be vast, with estimates suggesting consumption comparable to that of hundreds of thousands of households annually. This raises critical questions about resource strain in a region already grappling with water management challenges.

While the press release emphasizes Utah's "compelling long-term opportunity" due to its energy resources, specific details on the power source for the 7.5-gigawatt campus there remain undisclosed. The project's reliance on fossil fuels in Alberta stands in contrast to a growing industry trend where tech giants like Meta and Microsoft are pursuing large-scale nuclear and renewable energy agreements to power their operations and meet corporate climate goals.

A Tale of Two Valleys: Local Support and Opposition

The on-the-ground reality for the two Wonder Valley projects appears to be diverging sharply. In Utah, O'Leary Digital's announcement highlighted strong political tailwinds, with the company explicitly recognizing "the leadership demonstrated by Governor Spencer J. Cox, Senate President J. Stuart Adams, and Utah's federal delegation." This top-level endorsement suggests a smoother path through state-level regulatory and permitting processes.

In Alberta, however, the project is encountering significant friction. Despite praise from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, O'Leary Digital's claims of community engagement are being directly challenged. The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, whose traditional territory includes the proposed project site within the Greenview Industrial Gateway, has expressed "grave concern" over the development.

In a statement, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine noted that there was "no mention of First Nation consultation" from the government or the company regarding the initial plans. This stands in stark contrast to O'Leary's assertion that "Engagement, consultation, and shared opportunity are foundational to how we approach development in Alberta." Brooks Arcand-Paul, the opposition NDP's Indigenous relations critic, has warned that failing to conduct proper consultation could stall projects of this magnitude indefinitely.

The emerging opposition highlights a critical risk factor for the Alberta campus and underscores the complexities of executing mega-projects on lands with deep historical and cultural ties. For O'Leary Digital, the path from ambitious blueprint to operational reality will be defined by its ability to navigate these complex financial, environmental, and social landscapes.