Alaska
Alaska is advancing pro-investment data-center policy under term-limited Gov. Dunleavy while regulating proactively: Anchorage adopted a data-center land-use/permitting framework (AO 2026-27) March 27, 2026, and a statewide ratepayer-protection bill (SB 250) passed the Senate May 16 but died in the House (DWT (Anchorage), DWT (SB 250)).
ILens Signals
Civic/Governance Barriers activates on moratorium-class action (C1) — governance instruments on the electoral, legislative, and regulatory surface (protocol §10; Overview Civic breakout). Capital Flows/Insurability is a dominant stressor: SB 250's core purpose is preventing cost shifts to ratepayers and requiring financial security for utility capital investment, an explicit stranded-asset/insurability framing (DWT (SB 250)). Energy/Power (fuel supply, small-grid reliability) is the other central domain (DWT (SB 250)).
IIKey 2026 Races
Open 2026 gubernatorial race (Dunleavy term-limited) is data-center-adjacent: candidates including former AG Treg Taylor have echoed Dunleavy's pledge to attract data centers, but no candidate has made data centers the defining issue, so treated as adjacent rather than a defining race (Alaska Public Media, Ballotpedia).
IIIMoratorium · Ban Status
No statewide or local moratorium. Anchorage instead adopted proactive zoning: AO 2026-27 (adopted March 27, 2026) defines 'data center' (>=20 MW), limits them to commercial/industrial zones, requires a conditional-use permit, utility-capacity confirmation, ~200 ft residential setbacks, and screening (DWT (Anchorage), AO 2026-27 text).
IVRatepayer · Cost-Shift Legislation
SB 250 — would require electric/gas utilities to enter commission-approved contracts with data centers so infrastructure/service costs are borne by operators, not shifted to other customers, plus reliability safeguards, financial security for utility capital >$1M, and monthly water/wastewater plans. It PASSED the Alaska Senate May 16, 2026 but DIED in the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee; likely to be revived in a future session (DWT (SB 250), FastDemocracy SB 250).
VBallot Measures
None identified. No Alaska data-center ballot measure surfaced for Nov. 2026.
VITop Contested Sites
No major hyperscale project publicly proposed within Anchorage yet; the city has one sizable colocation facility, and the zoning framework is pre-emptive. Larger developer interest (e.g., a proposed very large project elsewhere in Alaska) is nascent (DWT (Anchorage), DWT (SB 250 / colo)).
VIITalent · Workforce
Not a prominent 2026 dimension; Dunleavy frames Alaska's land base and small population as advantages for siting, with community-engagement (noise, buffers) as the social-license focus (LinkedIn/Barron Sawyer).
VIIIData Center Cluster Size
Emerging — Anchorage has one sizable colocation facility and no hyperscale campuses yet; policy is getting ahead of buildout (DWT (SB 250 / colo)).
IXKey Quote
The ordinance "does not propose prohibiting data centers, or 'zoning them out of existence,' but does address what is currently a large gap for these facilities," per AO 2026-27 (AO 2026-27 text).