AIDEA's free state land for a Mat-Su data center park

How the public reaches this

Anyone can comment on the DNR preliminary decision to transfer the land to AIDEA through 5 p.m. August 19, 2026, on the DNR website. This is now the one open comment room among the tracked decisions.

Timeline

Sources

Every document a fact on this page was checked against.

1. Alaska DNR Online Public Notices

   2026-07-10

2. Reporting From Alaska

   2026-07-13

3. Northern Journal

   2026-07-15

4. Mat-Su Sentinel

   2026-07-14

How this decision moved

One dated line per material change, oldest first.

1. 2026-07-17 Tracked. DNR under Commissioner John Crowther released a 45 page preliminary decision to give about 20,000 acres near Houston to AIDEA at no charge for a data center and industrial district, with public comment open through August 19. Reported by Dermot Cole on July 13 and Northern Journal on July 15.

2. 2026-07-18 Re-verified against Alaska Beacon and Alaska News Source. The 41 page DNR preliminary decision would transfer about 30 square miles of state land north of Houston to AIDEA at no cost for a multi use industrial and energy development district that includes data centers, with public comment open through 5 p.m. August 19. AIDEA director Randy Ruaro said there are no pre determined and set land use decisions. Houston Council Member Johansen introduced a June ordinance to ban data centers within city limits and the council postponed the vote to August 13. Unlike the off grid North Slope campus, a Railbelt data center here could move household bills either way depending on the utility rate deal.

3. 2026-07-21 Re-verified against Mat-Su Sentinel and Alaska News Source reporting from July 15 and 16. The City of Houston council took up Council Member Lisa Johansen's ordinance to ban data center development inside city limits and voted July 16 to postpone action to its August 13 meeting, so a small municipality is now moving to zone out the buildout on the state parcel next door on permafrost thaw and water supply grounds. DNR public comment on the no cost land transfer to AIDEA still runs through 5 p.m. August 19. Added the August 13 council vote as a tracked key date.

4. 2026-07-22 Selected as this run's carousel. Re-verified the DNR primary notice ADL 234762. It remains a preliminary decision proposing a noncompetitive no-cost conveyance of about 19,950 acres of state land roughly two miles north of Houston to AIDEA, with written public comment open through 5 p.m. August 19. The notice says that if no significant change is required the preliminary decision will issue as the Final Finding and Decision. Daniel Jenkins is the listed contact. This is the one open comment room among the tracked decisions.

5. 2026-07-26 Re-verified against Northern Journal. Public comment on the DNR preliminary decision runs through August 19 and the Houston City Council postponed its vote on a data center restriction ordinance to its next meeting on August 13, to allow a work session that had not yet been scheduled. Parcel described as 30 square miles, roughly 60 road miles north of Anchorage. Dates unchanged.

6. 2026-07-29 Correction. Between July 21 and today this entry showed August 13 as the comment deadline. That is the date of a separate Houston City Council vote, which stays tracked here as its own key date. The DNR comment deadline was and remains 5 p.m. August 19, 2026, re-verified today against the primary notice, Alaska DNR Online Public Notices id 224431, ADL 234762, which shows no extension or amendment.

Articles on this decision

Each of these verified a claim against a document this decision also rests on.

Cite this

Alaska AI Docket, AIDEA's free state land for a Mat-Su data center park. Tracked since July 17, 2026, last verified July 29, 2026. https://alaskaaihq.com/docket/aidea-houston-industrial-park/ · Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. This decision is also available as structured data in the docket JSON, item id aidea-houston-industrial-park.