Scotiabank sees Alberta data center opportunities boosting Canadian power producers

Scotiabank remains bullish on North American utilities, with outlook for growth being more visible and stronger in the U.S.

Brokerage believes that Alberta data center announcements could see the Canadian independent power producers outperform and make up some lost ground

"We believe Alberta is an attractive geography for data centers given it has over 1.2 GW of excess capacity, produces inexpensive power and has a relatively supportive political environment" - brokerage

Scotiabank sees TransAlta TA.TO as having more torque to the Alberta data center theme than Capital Power CPX.TO, which positions it well through the balance of 2025

Brokerage adds that it favors IPPs over the renewables and utilities as they have more visible and material catalysts (M&A, recontracting, higher merchant pricing) as well as positive investment sentiment