Stack Energy Plans Multi-Gigawatt Data Center Near Prudhoe Bay

Stack Energy founder Sparrow Mahoney told attendees at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference on Tuesday that the company is planning Project Akka, a multi-gigawatt data center campus south of Prudhoe Bay designed to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence operations. The project would require approximately $20 billion in power infrastructure investment for the first phase alone, not including the data centers themselves, Mahoney said.

The proposed campus would hire approximately 10,000 workers during construction and hundreds of permanent operations jobs. Initial site preparation alone would require roughly 7 million cubic tons of gravel to build the pad.

Alaska lawmakers have explored data center development as an economic opportunity in recent months. Far North Digital announced plans in 2024 for a separate Prudhoe Bay data center project with an initial power plant capacity of 120 megawatts.

Scale and Location

Mahoney said the campus could become the largest power campus in America. The project would be built in phases as an off-grid North Slope development powered by local natural gas, with initial operations expected in late 2028 if construction begins in summer 2026 as planned.

The site was chosen just south of Prudhoe Bay rather than within the existing industrial complex because airsheds in Prudhoe are already at capacity. "We're doing it there because building it in Prudhoe would mean asking all of you and Alaska to give up its existing industrial base. Those air sheds are tapped, right? But that's where the resources are," Mahoney said.

Gas Supply and Economics

The company has secured partnerships with North Slope gas producers to supply the campus and is designing redundant supply connections to meet data center reliability requirements of at least 99.9 percent uptime. Mahoney said gas prices must generate royalties for Alaska while remaining commercially viable for the project.

Stack Energy structured itself as a C corporation rather than an S corporation to ensure it pays state taxes. "We could have been an S corporation and not paid any tax. Our commitment was build this for Alaska, meaning build it in a way that is commercially viable when you contribute to the place where you're taking the resource from," Mahoney said.

Because the project would operate off-grid on the North Slope using local fuel, it would not affect existing utility costs elsewhere in the state. "A data center on the North Slope using local fuel on the North Slope without connecting to the existing grid doesn't matter. It's a business proposition separate from the grid," said Jesse Bjorkman during the conference.

Heat Byproduct and Infrastructure

Stack Energy is working with a Department of Energy national laboratory on heat simulation to direct thermal output responsibly. A multi-gigawatt build could produce enough waste heat to support greenhouse agriculture at scale in Alaska if designed properly, Mahoney said. Former Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle, now on the Stack Energy team, is working on agricultural applications for the byproduct heat.

The company plans to build its own fiber line to support connectivity requirements for the campus. The project would require major permitting activity for site preparation, pipeline infrastructure, and power generation modules.

Workforce Development

Stack Energy is engaging with Alaska Native corporations from the capital table to design and implementation, with a focus on hiring Alaska workers first. The company is partnering with large Alaska companies, Native corporations, and the University of Alaska system to develop workforce training programs so workers are ready when long-lead equipment arrives, Mahoney said.