2026 Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference Tuesday

Kind of develop the mandatory requirements, if you will, so that not just the big hyperscalers who can do this and who will do this stuff, but every data center that meets that criteria threshold will have to have that same kind of capability. And I think that's one of the most important things as we commission these loads, that we know how they're going to behave and that we can kind of make them behave in a way that doesn't create issues for the rest of the system. Absolutely. Thank you. Senator, what types of agreements are emerging between developers, utilities, and communities to address concerns that we've touched on in this panel, such as electrical infrastructure needs, water use, and overall project footprint?

It's so complicated. As I mentioned earlier, there's this well-funded misinformation campaign that has led to a significant rise in NIMBYism. Right? So not in my backyard. And we're seeing this kind of flow across the country right now, and it's highly problematic.

You know, just earlier when we were talking about some of the great stuff that Virginia has done in the last couple years, that is really great news. However, the Virginia legislature is right now considering legislation that would really restrict and roll a lot of that forward thinking back, and it would be devastating not just to to the movement towards innovation and a more efficient economy. It would, it would be horrible from a tax perspective for the local community. We saw that Maine, for instance, just passed legislation to ban data centers. Thank goodness Governor Mills vetoed that legislation.

But you're seeing this, this nimbyism that's fueled by misinformation rise in communities all across the country, even in my home state of Arizona, which is a a wonderful place for data centers from an environmental perspective in particular. So, um, so there's kind of a two-pronged effort that's happening. The first is to combat the misinformation and the infiltration of this misinformation from the Chinese Communist Party, which, and which is being picked up and supported by kind of populist efforts across the country. So the first is to combat that nimbyism and that misinformation. And then the second thing to do is to tell a proactive message around what is best practice.

And so the reality is, is there are lots and lots of things to do that are best practices. Ensuring, for instance, that you've got some standards around where data centers are located, right? Ensuring that they're in industrial communities, that there's, um, you know, setbacks from major roads, that they have noise issues, that you're addressing the water issue. You know, the old school data centers did take a lot of water, but the new data centers either rely on zero water or less water than a traditional office building. Now, that is not as much of an issue here in Alaska, but in my home state of Arizona, that is a very important issue, and it's important to know the facts.

So creating standards about best practices and implementing those standards in city councils and state legislatures across the country will make a huge difference. Addressing the energy issues. You know, each jurisdiction handles their energy issues differently. In some parts of the country, like in Arizona, the energy utilities, which are vertically integrated, they sell energy to data center and other tech companies in a separate bucket than they sell to consumers. So it's impossible to push the cost onto consumers.

But that's not true in all parts of the country. And in some jurisdictions, the hyperscalers can do behind the meter, creating their own energy, which can be helpful in the short term, but also complex in terms of managing their overall grid. Some are on-grid or off-grid. And so really having conversations about not nationalizing, because that would never work in our country, but really thinking strategically about how to make a one-size-fits-one kind of message for each locality or state or region is really how we're going to get through this and create long-term energy reliability and overcome the political nimbyism that's happening in communities across the country. Thank you.

David, from NASIO's perspective, you know, what do you see happening in the next, say, 3 to 5 years? I think we'll keep moving down this path. I just want to follow up on the comments that the Senator just made. I think that's absolutely correct. One of the challenges here is that if you think about— if you were around when the internet really evolved in the late '90s, early 2000s, that was actually kind of slow-moving.

It was 8 or 10 years. This is 2 years. I think the speed of policy at the state level, local level is important. The speed of communication and good, neutral, sort of factual communication that we're talking about here, the energy offices play a central role in that from an energy perspective. So, I think what we'll see is moving— I'm fond of what Assistant Secretary Jerez from the Department of Energy always says, stabilize, optimize, and grow the grid.

I think we do all three of those at the same time. I think you see more and more states taking that approach all at once to answer the mail, but also to reach out to the hyperscalers early and reach out to the local communities earlier to make sure they have the right information about the benefits for them and sharing of best practices about how those centers are developed. That's the trend we're seeing already. One last point I would make, just in the interest of time, we had tracked last legislative season at the state level a lot of bills that were passed around developing new power on the grid, new generation. This summer will end up— most of the state legislatures will wrap up shortly.

We see over 300 bills. Most of them are around affordability and cost. So I think we're going to see these come together in a positive way, I hope. Wonderful. Well, I know I'm running close to the break, but I'm looking at Andrew.

I'm going to give— I feel bad because I feel like I knew what was going to happen. We would get on stage, we would blink, and this wonderful panel would be over. But I'm not going to let that happen. So I'd like to give each of you just about a minute or so for closing comments. And if you could focus on those comments What are some takeaways that you would like Alaska to know?

Thank you. Okay, I'll start, and I want to double down on the comment made earlier, David. It's the communication is key, you know, whatever you're doing. But in these data centers, remember, the folks who are coming in from the data center side are not grid experts. So they— even the terminology needs to be said in a way that's mutually understandable and vice versa, right?

So, so the Frequent early communication is key, and once the expectations are set, then it becomes a far easier process. I don't want to double down on Jim's comments. When data centers grow bigger and bigger, your single largest contingency may not be a generating unit. It may be a load failing. So planning and operating, understanding that and planning the operating the grid accordingly is very, very important.

And then finally, from an affordability perspective, just making sure that the— that becomes one of the prime importance, you know, when you look at data centers and their impact and making sure the messages are clear. To me, that is the other important point that I want to make. Thank you. So I'd make a couple points. One, for the— for those of you who are actively engaged in the operation of the utilities up here, you should read our materials, right, and adapt them as appropriate to your own situation on commissioning these kinds of loads.

The most important thing, and I kind of foot-stomp with the senator, and I think what we've all said here, this dynamic creates an incredible opportunity both to improve the infrastructure of the country. If you think back to the electric infrastructure in the country, most of it was developed by— through the industrialization process that occurred post-World War II. That's why we have such an aging infrastructure problem in the lower 48. This is an opportunity to leverage some ginormous balance sheets to be able to reinforce the grid that'll pay dividends for, for years to come. The other thing is that the opportunity to improve affordability through better utilization of the network that exists is also an extraordinary opportunity for the country.

I do agree with the Senator, right? The amount of misinformation and disinformation being sowed whether from China or Russia or any of our other national adversaries is extraordinary, extraordinarily hard to combat. But it's very important that we do that because this is absolutely a generational opportunity with tremendous benefits both for society as well as economic well-being for the country. So let's approach this with a let's get it done attitude.

So I think the first thing I would say is to, to make sure that we're communicating to Alaskans how AI makes a difference in their everyday lives. I said earlier that your phone is your remote control to the data center, and the average American uses it 100 times a day. Most people don't know that, right? What we're seeing is that 35 and under individuals in the country are specifically concerned about AI. They are also the highest utilizers of AI.

But translating that to folks is really important. People in your lives will get their breast cancer detected 22% sooner and faster because of AI. Children who are on a bus route to school will get there faster and safer because of AI. If there is a fire in your community, the fire folks will come to your home to protect you faster because of AI. So making sure that people understand how AI makes a measurable difference in your daily life is number one.

And number two, Alaska is a prime location for the growth of this innovation and technology that makes all of our lives better. You've got the space, you've got the energy— not only energy online, but the coming energy— to be a star in this area. And this is going to transform all of our lives for the better. So combating the misinformation, making sure that people understand what AI is doing in their everyday lives, and And then working together as a community so that Alaska capitalizes on this incredible step forward on innovation is absolutely key to your future. Take us home, David.

Happy to. I, I think a couple of things. One, focusing on reliability and affordability, um, I, I think that's key. We will make a huge misstep. Two, the automated load management opportunities we have for load flexibility, not just of data centers but of all major energy resources and aggregated loads in the power sector is there.

Technically, we have it. We need policy and regulatory change at the state and federal level to deliver lower cost. Third, this is not a new investment in the grid, um, that's, that's being done just because data centers— we have underinvested in the grid for 30, 40 years, and this was coming with or without data centers, and that's important. Uh, lastly, um, there's a lot of hand-wringing in different parts of the the country over what this means, a lot of times incorrectly. I would say the glass is not just half full, it is overflowing, and we have to jump and take advantage of it now, do it thoughtfully, much as they're doing here in Alaska, and I think we'll be very pleased with the result.

All right. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, let's please have a round of applause for our panelists.

You can stay seated there for a minute. We are going to take a short break, but before we do that, I would like to give a huge thank you to all of the conference sponsors. So please join me in recognizing our top sponsors: Glenfarn Alaska LNG LLC, Polar LNG, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, Repsol, POSCO International, Bwexit, the National Laboratory for the Rockies, Worley, Idaho National Laboratory, Alaska Airlines, Ameresco, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Santos, Oklo, Electric Power Systems Incorporated, and HDR Engineering Incorporated. And you're seeing all the sponsors up on the screen. So like I said, we will take a short break, and then the different breakout sessions will start at 11:15.

The agenda will be on the screen, and it is on your mini data center that you're all carrying. So I'm going to talk about that a lot, Senator. You'll also find that the full schedule and the room assignments are in that app. Lunch will start at 12:15. Our lunch program featured speaker is Secretary Doug Burgum.

It is going to begin at 12:45. The lunch seating is first come, first served. So please get here appropriately early for the seat that you would prefer. So I hope you enjoy your break. Get some coffee or soda.

Make some new connections. And we'll see you back shortly for the next round. Thank you.