# One Gigawatt, to Scale > UAF's new guide counts a state transportation container of drone imagery as a data center. Published 2026-10-15 by Alaska AI. 10 slides. Canonical: https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-10-15/ ## The story Fairbanks' grid had 15 MW to spare. This carousel is one gigawatt wide. Level 2. One backup unit left. Golden Valley issued its first Energy Emergency Alert after a third unit failed while two were down for planned maintenance. It hasn't said which one. Its alert page puts Level 2 at reserves below 15 MW. "Probably not going to be a one-off." It says it has met Level 1 and Level 2 conditions on numerous occasions over the past year. It lost access to power from Anchorage-area gas plants as Cook Inlet gas ran short. "Want to drop 10 billion on a data center" Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it in Fairbanks two days after the alert, and named no investor. Alaska has seen proposals for as many as 15 data centers, Alaska Public Media reports. A dollar figure and a count. Neither is a megawatt. The guide's two smallest sizes fall under 15 MW. UAF's energy center sizes an edge site at about 0.1 to 0.5 MW, like the state transportation department's drone imagery container. Enterprise runs about 0.5 to 10 MW, like the University of Alaska's and Providence's. Five sizes, one ruler. No hyperscale site runs in Alaska. The guide cites one proposal, STAK on the North Slope. No large cloud provider runs a region here. On the Railbelt, it says, the biggest sizes may need significant new generation and transmission. The fixes take years. A planned battery would deliver 70 MW for up to 2 hours, at about $130 million. A used LM6000 turbine, or an equivalent, is under evaluation at up to $80 million. Construction of the Beluga to Healy line isn't expected until after 2030. "How much change is our community prepared to absorb?" That was one gigawatt. What size of data center, if any, should Fairbanks say yes to? ## What we verified - Golden Valley Electric Association issued its first ever Energy Emergency Alert on October 12th. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - The October 12th alert was a Level 2 alert, triggered when a third GVEA generating unit unexpectedly went offline. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - Two GVEA generating units were offline for planned maintenance when the alert was issued. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA's alert page defines Level 1, the Energy Advisory, as available generation reserves below 38 MW that are not expected to recover within two hours. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/energy-emergency-alert), primary document, 2026-10-14. - GVEA's alert page defines Level 2, the Energy Watch, as available generation reserves below 15 MW that are not expected to recover within two hours. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/energy-emergency-alert), primary document, 2026-10-14. - GVEA's alert page defines Level 3, the Energy Warning, as generation reserves unavailable and not expected to recover within 30 minutes, which starts its Controlled Load Shed Program. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/energy-emergency-alert), primary document, 2026-10-14. - GVEA's news release says Level 1 means its backup power supply is limited to two generation units. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA's news release says Level 2 means its backup power supply is limited to one generation unit. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - At Level 3 GVEA would rotate outages of 30 to 60 minutes through designated zones. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA says it has experienced conditions consistent with Level 1 and Level 2 alerts on numerous occasions over the past year. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA's board approved additional baseload generation with a maximum project cost of $80 million. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA is evaluating a used LM6000 turbine or an equivalent for that added baseload generation. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA's planned battery energy storage system would provide 70 megawatts of temporary power. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA's planned battery would supply that power for up to 2 hours. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA estimates the battery project will cost about $130 million. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - After loan forgiveness and tax credits GVEA expects the battery's cost to members to fall to around $18 million. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - GVEA says it lost access to power from Anchorage area gas plants because of natural gas shortages in Cook Inlet. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/news-releases/gveas-energy-emergency-alerts-why-theyre-needed-and-what-members-should-know/), primary document, 2026-10-13. - By 10:40 a.m. on October 14th GVEA's alert page showed Level 0, normal operations. [Golden Valley Electric Association](https://www.gvea.com/energy-emergency-alert), primary document, 2026-10-14. - The University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Center for Energy and Power prepared Computing in Place, a conversation guide on data centers for Alaskans, dated October 2026. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide runs 61 pages and its lead author is Leasi Vanessa Lee Raymond. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - UAF announced the guide on October 14th, saying it was developed by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. [University of Alaska Fairbanks](https://www.uaf.edu/news/new-guide-helps-alaskans-shape-data-center-conversations.php), primary document, 2026-10-14. - The guide was published on Zenodo on October 6th under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. [Zenodo (UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power record)](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide's work relates to Office of Naval Research award N00014-22-1-2049. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - ACEP convened a two day discussion of Alaska leaders in June 2026 that informed the guide. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide says a small facility supporting a hospital or Tribal government is different from a hyperscale facility serving global customers. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide frames four questions, namely what computing Alaska needs, what resources should support it, who should control it, and what if anything Alaskans want to provide to the rest of the world. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide sizes an edge data center at approximately 0.1 to 0.5 MW in Alaska. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide cites the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities containerized edge data center, used to store drone imagery, as an Alaska example of the edge type. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide sizes an enterprise data center at approximately 0.5 to 10 MW in Alaska. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide names the University of Alaska data center and the Providence Hospital data center as enterprise examples in Alaska today. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide sizes a co-location data center at approximately 0.5 to 100 MW. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide sizes a cloud data center at 50 to 100 or more MW, or even gigawatts, in Alaska. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide says no large commercial cloud providers currently operate cloud regions in Alaska. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide says no operational hyperscale facilities currently exist in Alaska and cites the STAK proposal on the North Slope as a proposed example. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide sizes a hyperscale data center at 50 to 100 or more MW, or even gigawatts, in Alaska. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide's question for the hyperscale type is "How much change is our community prepared to absorb?". [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide says hyperscale AI or cloud scale projects on the Railbelt may require significant new power generation and transmission beyond what exists today. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide says large scale data centers are unlikely to be economically feasible in remote communities running diesel powered microgrids without transformative investment. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - The guide says Alaska's energy limits come from the cost and complexity of developing and connecting its resources rather than from a lack of resources. [UAF Alaska Center for Energy and Power](https://zenodo.org/records/23175112/files/Computing%20in%20Place%20-%202026.pdf), primary document, 2026-10-06. - A Department of Energy project will build approximately 223 miles of new transmission line connecting Beluga and Healy. [U.S. Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-alaska-railbelt-transmission-project-receive-defense), primary document, 2026-10-05. - The Beluga to Healy line combines up to $150 million in Defense Production Act funding with $268 million in non-federal funding. [U.S. Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-alaska-railbelt-transmission-project-receive-defense), primary document, 2026-10-05. - KUAC reported that GVEA was left with a cushion of 15 megawatts of reserve generating capacity when it issued the alert. [KUAC](https://fm.kuac.org/energy/2026-10-13/gvea-issues-first-alert-urging-members-to-conserve-electricity), report, 2026-10-13. - KUAC reported the alert would remain in effect through Wednesday, October 14th. [KUAC](https://fm.kuac.org/energy/2026-10-13/gvea-issues-first-alert-urging-members-to-conserve-electricity), report, 2026-10-13. - GVEA spokesperson Ashley Bradish told KUAC the alert is "probably not going to be a one-off.". [KUAC](https://fm.kuac.org/energy/2026-10-13/gvea-issues-first-alert-urging-members-to-conserve-electricity), report, 2026-10-13. - Bradish told KUAC that GVEA's generation situation is "not a quick fix.". [KUAC](https://fm.kuac.org/energy/2026-10-13/gvea-issues-first-alert-urging-members-to-conserve-electricity), report, 2026-10-13. - GVEA would not say which unit failed or why, citing new state standards on what utilities may make public, according to Alaska's News Source. [Alaska's News Source (KTUU)](https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/10/15/gvea-asks-members-conserve-energy-amid-generator-failure/), report, 2026-10-14. - GVEA said the problem behind the shortage will take years to fix, according to Alaska Public Media. [Alaska Public Media / KUAC](https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2026-10-15/in-fairbanks-interior-secretary-burgum-touts-deregulation-and-data-centers), report, 2026-10-15. - Interior Secretary Doug Burgum spoke at a Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce event on the evening of Wednesday, October 14th. [Alaska Public Media / KUAC](https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2026-10-15/in-fairbanks-interior-secretary-burgum-touts-deregulation-and-data-centers), report, 2026-10-15. - Burgum told the Fairbanks audience, "We have people knocking on our door that want to drop 10 billion on a data center, and they don't want any tax breaks.". [Alaska Public Media / KUAC](https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2026-10-15/in-fairbanks-interior-secretary-burgum-touts-deregulation-and-data-centers), report, 2026-10-15. - Alaska Public Media reported that Burgum pitched the Interior as a location for large scale AI data centers. [Alaska's News Source (KTUU)](https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/10/15/interior-secretary-pitches-fairbanks-amid-regional-power-emergency/), report, 2026-10-14. - Alaska has seen proposals for as many as 15 data centers, including on military land, according to Alaska Public Media. [Alaska Public Media / KUAC](https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2026-10-15/in-fairbanks-interior-secretary-burgum-touts-deregulation-and-data-centers), report, 2026-10-15. - In July state officials received more than 500 public comments on a proposed North Slope data center and power plant. [Alaska Public Media / KUAC](https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2026-10-15/in-fairbanks-interior-secretary-burgum-touts-deregulation-and-data-centers), report, 2026-10-15. - In August the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly passed a resolution asking the Alaska Legislature to impose a moratorium on data centers. [Alaska Public Media / KUAC](https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2026-10-15/in-fairbanks-interior-secretary-burgum-touts-deregulation-and-data-centers), report, 2026-10-15. - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who attended Burgum's speech, said "I think we should pause.". [Alaska Public Media / KUAC](https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2026-10-15/in-fairbanks-interior-secretary-burgum-touts-deregulation-and-data-centers), report, 2026-10-15. - Construction of the second intertie isn't expected until after 2030, according to the Alaska Beacon. [Alaska Beacon via Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2026/10/07/feds-approve-150-million-for-second-power-link-between-interior-and-southcentral-alaska/), report, 2026-10-08. Slides and the deck PDF are linked from the canonical page.