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The company behind three major data centers in northern British Columbia and the Kootenays is making big changes.
The Australian company Iren began mining bitcoins, but is now switching to data storage using artificial intelligence. Since the turnaround, its share price has risen 350 percent and is now worth US$13 billion.
But the move comes as the province sets new restrictions on AI data centers' access to power.
Iren chief commercial officer Kent Draper said the company initially built its facilities with many different purposes in mind, and as AI became more popular, it allowed the company to use the same infrastructure it used to mine Bitcoin for AI workloads.
“For example, today at our site in Prince George, we literally have Bitcoin miners running in the same data rooms that we have AI servers running,” Draper said.
Irene's 50-megawatt facility in Prince George began offering artificial intelligence data storage 18 months ago. Draper says they are installing more graphics processing units (GPUs) and once that is completed, the site will be used exclusively for artificial intelligence.
Equipment upgrades are also underway at Irene's Mackenzie and Canal Flats facilities.
Draper argues that the shift to artificial intelligence will create more jobs in these areas, since storing artificial intelligence data is more labor intensive than mining Bitcoin.
The company currently offers 60 permanent positions between the Prince George and Mackenzie sites, and they plan to triple that number, Draper said. The upgrade will also create approximately 100 temporary construction jobs at the peak of the expansion.
Draper said Irene was initially attracted to British Columbia because of its access to hydroelectric power, and the province's colder climate allows them to cool equipment without using water.
“We've seen a number of industrial and industrial power users go out, particularly pulp and paper mills, sawmills, etc., and a lot of electrical infrastructure has been built to service those operations,” he said.
Policy changes
However, in October province announced policy changes who give priority to power to natural resource projects and will force artificial intelligence data centers to jockey for power.
BC Hydro will invite bids for the projects in early 2026 and invite companies to compete for access to electricity. Over a two-year period, artificial intelligence projects will have combined access to 300 megawatts, and other data centers will have combined access to 100 megawatts.
According to the province, projects will be assessed to ensure they meet British Columbia's economic goals, such as job creation and benefit to provincial interests, while remaining within the overall energy allocations to those specific sectors.
British Columbia's policy changes also make a permanent ban on new cryptocurrency connections.
Kate Harland, director of clean growth research at the Canadian Climate Institute, says with the province's increased demand for electricity, changes were necessary.
“The old system was first come, first served, and BC Hydro had very little ability to say no to some of the growing crypto mining sectors,” she said. “It didn’t necessarily provide any local economic benefit.”
She says artificial intelligence data centers have more potential benefits than cryptocurrency mining in terms of telecommunications infrastructure, employment and computing power.
“What other benefits might this bring compared to, you know, another data center or maybe another industry that might need the same power?”
Draper says Iren won't be able to expand its bitcoin operations under the rules, but it was already looking to move into artificial intelligence-powered data storage. He says Iren will continue to operate and expand in British Columbia, subject to regulatory restrictions.
“Whenever you have a situation where governments determine the allocation of resources rather than markets, I think that usually leads to less efficient outcomes than making decisions, you know, leaving the decision to the market,” he said.
Draper says Iren's is moving forward with upgrades in British Columbia and work will continue into next year.
