Massive $500M Data Center Project to Consume Double Alaska’s Natural Gas

Stak Energy has proposed the development of a $500 million data center on Alaska’s Arctic North Slope, a project that would establish one of the largest such facilities in the United States. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources issued a preliminary decision on May 13, 2026, to lease the required property to the company.

The proposed development would occupy one square mile and consist of multiple buildings. The site is located in a remote area roughly one mile west of the Dalton Highway, approximately 25 miles south of the North Slope’s primary infrastructure.

According to state documents released during the week of May 11, 2026, the project is designed to leverage the region’s abundant land, naturally cold temperatures for equipment cooling, and a significant supply of natural gas for power generation.

The facility could ultimately produce up to three gigawatts of power for its own operations, a capacity that makes it competitive with some of the largest data centers currently under development in the contiguous United States.

Energy and Infrastructure Requirements

To power the facility, Stak Energy plans to construct a new pipeline to transport natural gas to the data center’s power plant. The energy requirements for the site are substantial; state documents indicate the plant could consume more than twice the amount of natural gas that urban Alaska uses for home and commercial heating, as well as electrical generation.

The project intends to utilize natural gas that is currently unused, shifting the energy source away from coal, which is used by the state’s largest coal plant.

Operational Focus and Company Pivot

The scope of the project has expanded since its inception. In 2025, Stak Energy proposed a smaller-scale operation focused primarily on the digital mining of cryptocurrency.

The current proposal shifts the facility’s purpose toward broader computing needs. The company now states that the data center will support large-scale AI and cloud computing operations, which include the training of large-scale machine learning models and high-performance analytical and scientific computing.

Leasing and Approval Process

The administrative process for the lease began in November 2025, when Stak Energy first proposed the lease to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Following that proposal, the department published a notice to solicit competing bids for the property.

No competing bids were received, leading the department to proceed with the leasing process for Stak Energy. This resulted in the preliminary decision to lease the property issued on May 13, 2026.

The state has now opened a public comment period regarding the preliminary decision. This period will remain open through June 15, 2026.