Six Data Center Sites. Two Answer to Juneau.
From the North Slope to Cook Inlet, six sites could host data centers, and Alaska's next governor could reach two.
The deck
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The story
A disclosure. This deck was produced by an automated studio running on Claude, a model made by Anthropic. The Alaska Beacon reports that Kreiss-Tomkins' campaign has received large donations from people employed by Anthropic. The deck leaves that report out and quotes all four candidates at equal size, in alphabetical order, so no candidate is framed by it.
At Milepost 390, DNR's preliminary decision describes a 1 to 3 GW gas plant that feeds its computers and no Alaska grid. Near Houston, DNR proposes conveying about 19,950 acres to AIDEA. Neither notice shows a final decision. The governor appointed DNR's commissioner.
The rest are federal. Air Force proposals for JBER, Eielson and Clear closed June 29th with no award. FERC takes Cook Inlet permit filings until November 2nd. Alaska votes November 3rd. The winner can veto any data center bill.
The maps ink the two state sites in gold and ring the four federal ones in dashes. All four candidates are quoted at equal size.
How much should data centers count in a vote for a governor who could reach two sites and holds a veto?
What we verified
64 CLAIMS, EACH RE-FETCHED FROM ITS SOURCE BEFORE THIS DECK SHIPPED
The Alaska DNR Division of Oil and Gas issued a preliminary decision to offer STAK Energy Corporation a 50-year lease on the North Slope.
The proposed STAK Energy lease covers a 715.4-acre parcel.
The STAK Energy site is adjacent to the Dalton Highway about 26 miles south of Deadhorse.
The STAK Energy lease is for a natural gas-powered energy facility that includes modular high-performance computing units.
The STAK Energy preliminary notice set June 15th as its original deadline for public comments.
Alaska DNR proposes to convey approximately 19,950 acres of state land to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
The proposed AIDEA parcel is about two miles north of Houston in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
The AIDEA Houston conveyance notice set August 19th as its original public comment deadline.
DNR says the AIDEA preliminary decision will be issued as the Final Finding and Decision without further notice if no significant change is required.
The Air Force solicitation AFCEC-26-R-0006 seeks AI data center development at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base and Clear Space Force Station.
Responses to the Air Force AI data center solicitation were due June 29th.
Under Article III Section 25 of the Alaska Constitution, the head of each principal department is appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the Legislature, and serves at the governor's pleasure.
Alaska's general election day is Tuesday, November 3rd.
The Alaska Constitution lets the governor veto bills passed by the Legislature.
A vetoed bill that is not a revenue or appropriation bill becomes law only with the votes of two-thirds of the Legislature's membership.
A bill becomes law without the governor's signature if the governor neither signs nor vetoes it within fifteen days, Sundays excepted, while the Legislature is in session.
DNR's preliminary decision on the STAK Energy lease says the authority to execute the Final Finding and Decision was delegated to the Division of Oil and Gas from the Commissioner of DNR.
The STAK Energy pad would host a natural gas-fired power plant designed to produce 1 to 3 gigawatts of electricity.
DNR's preliminary decision describes the STAK Energy power and computing systems as behind the meter and not interconnected to the Railbelt or any other Alaska utility grid.
The STAK Energy site sits about one mile west of the Dalton Highway at Milepost 390, west of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
DNR's preliminary decision gives the STAK Energy parcel's northeast corner as 69.922571 N, 148.849662 W.
Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed John Crowther acting commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in October 2025.
DNR's preliminary decision says the STAK Energy footprint is a principal gravel pad of about 640 acres plus a 1.8-mile gravel access road and maintenance buffers, totaling 715.4 acres.
STAK Energy applied to DNR for a 50-year state land lease for a commercial natural gas-powered data center facility.
DNR's preliminary decision on the STAK Energy lease is filed under case number ADL 422741.
Republican governor candidate Dave Bronson said "I'm a big believer in data centers" at a Commonwealth North candidate forum in Anchorage.
Bronson said the data center groups he is talking to would produce their own electricity because they consider Alaska's grid power unreliable.
At a September 8th forum in Anchorage, Republican candidate Treg Taylor said of data centers "I think we need to embrace it."
Taylor said any data center in Alaska must bring its own energy, and that electricity costs are his biggest concern.
Taylor said a data center "doesn't have to drive up costs if you do it correctly" and can produce a net savings for Alaska ratepayers.
Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins said he supports a moratorium on data center development in Alaska until the Legislature passes a comprehensive regulatory framework.
Kreiss-Tomkins said any limits on data center development would be decided by negotiations between himself and the Legislature.
Republican candidate Bernadette Wilson said by text message "I will never allow Alaska to be littered with hyperscale data centers that take our resources and spoil our lands."
The Alaska Beacon story identifies Dave Bronson, Treg Taylor and Bernadette Wilson as Republicans.
The Alaska Beacon story identifies Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins as the Democratic candidate.
A photo caption on the Beacon story places Taylor, Bronson and Kreiss-Tomkins at a September 9th forum held by the Last Frontier Republican Club at the Petroleum Club of Anchorage.
The Alaska Beacon first published James Brooks's story on the governor candidates and data centers on September 18th.
The Beacon reports that the Alaska Senate voted 14 to 5 this year to pass a data center bill.
The Senate-passed data center bill did not pass the Alaska House before the end of the legislative session.
The data center bill's sponsor, Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, will return to the Legislature next year.
The Beacon reports that the next governor will likely be confronted with legislation similar to the Senate-passed data center bill.
The Senate-passed bill would have regulated how data centers use electricity from public utilities and required them to create decommissioning plans.
The Beacon reports that one $500 million data center proposal on the North Slope intends to burn local natural gas for power and use Arctic air for cooling.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is term-limited and can't run again this year.
BillTrack50 lists Alaska SB 250 as "An Act relating to data centers; and relating to utility service for data centers," sponsored by Sen. Loki Tobin.
SB 250's last legislative action was a House Community and Regional Affairs hearing on May 18th.
BillTrack50 lists SB 250 as dead as of May 20th.
The Beacon reports that AIDEA announced plans for a development that could include data centers in Southcentral Alaska.
The Air Force has offered to lease about 4,700 acres of government land in Alaska to private companies for data centers.
No Air Force data center lease projects in Alaska had been awarded as of September 15th.
KUAC reports the Pentagon wants to build up to a dozen military data centers near Anchorage, Healy and Fairbanks.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she is not a proponent of data centers at JBER or Alaska's Interior installations because of an insecure energy base at this time.
KUAC reports that the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly is calling for a data center moratorium but can't tell the Pentagon what to do on military land.
Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins said it is a different question whether local concerns about data centers trickle up to the Pentagon.
DeepGreen Cook Inlet has proposed a 100-megawatt subsea data center in Cook Inlet.
The Center for Biological Diversity, the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Conservation Alliance and the Kenai Peninsula Borough have filed motions to intervene in the DeepGreen FERC proceeding.
Comments, motions to intervene and competing applications on the DeepGreen project can be filed with FERC through November 2nd.
Alaska Energy Authority CEO Curtis Thayer said AEA will file to intervene in and oppose the DeepGreen proposal.
Sen. Dan Sullivan said AI companies, not communities, need to pay the costs of producing AI.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she would welcome a serious effort to establish clear guardrails for the AI industry.
The Beacon reports that Kreiss-Tomkins' campaign has received large donations from people employed by the AI company Anthropic.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough's motion to intervene in the DeepGreen FERC proceeding is dated September 14th.
In a September 21st response filed with FERC, DeepGreen said the requested modeling and studies would occur during a three-year study period.
The Mat-Su Sentinel and Anchorage Press report that DNR's 41-page decision document on the Houston conveyance says AIDEA's proposed development would include "scalable data centers".
Beats
This article is on Alaska data centers · Alaska power and the grid · Alaska land and permitting for AI · Defense and federal AI in Alaska · Alaska AI policy and legislation. Each beat page keeps every decision and every article on that subject in one place.