The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that TransAlta said on Friday it is nearing a deal with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Brookfield Asset Management to supply power to a new data centre in Alberta. The Globe's Jeffrey Jones writes that under a memorandum of understanding, the companies have set terms for the phased development of TransAlta's Keephills site in central Alberta. CPPIB and Brookfield would build and own the data centre, and TransAlta would provide electricity under a long-term power-purchase agreement for 230 megawatts from the company's generating station there. The MOU also calls for a potential expansion to 1,000 megawatts of power supply. The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) last year selected Calgary-based TransAlta as one of two providers of electricity for the first phase of the government's data-centre push. Premier Danielle Smith's government reiterated its strategy to be a top destination for such investments in its provincial budget tabled on Thursday. The minister in charge, Nathan Neudorf, has said the province established a bring-your-own-power policy to prevent the computing hubs from burdening consumers by sucking up large amounts of juice from the grid.