Kenai City Council to vote on intervening in federal review of Cook Inlet undersea data center

The Kenai City Council will vote Wednesday, Oct. 7, on whether to intervene in the federal review of a proposed data center project that would place dozens of underwater computing units in Cook Inlet.

Intervening would preserve the city's standing in the case without taking a position for or against the project, City Manager Terry Eubank told the council last month. The meeting starts at 6 pm in City Council Chambers. Residents can join remotely by registering through Zoom.

DeepGreen Cook Inlet SPV, LLC is seeking a preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to study installing 330 to 350 tidal turbines and 66 subsea-compute hives off the East Foreland. The project would include a roughly 3.5-mile hybrid power and fiber-optic cable running underwater and could generate an estimated 100 megawatts. The permit would give DeepGreen priority to file a full license application, but would not authorize any construction or land-disturbing work. Alaska News first reported the proposal Sept. 8.

At the council's Sept. 16 meeting, a Cook Inlet fishing industry advocate told members the application contains no modeling of heat released by the pods during slack tides.

Comments and motions to intervene in the federal review are due Nov. 2 by 5 pm Eastern time, under docket P-15423-000.