Alaska lawmakers are considering outside help for the state's worsening energy crisis just as an energy-hungry project is being floated on the North Slope: a data center campus that could burn through extraordinary amounts of gas.

In a recent TikTok video, Climate Defiance (@climatedefiance) highlighted a proposed data center project associated with Stak Energy. The climate advocacy group said the project would depend on a new pipeline to deliver gas to an on-site power plant.

According to documents highlighted in the video, the facility could require more than double the amount of gas currently used in urban Alaska for power and heating. The campus could reportedly generate up to 3 gigawatts of power for itself, a scale comparable to some of the biggest Lower 48 data center developments.

@climatedefiance

Solving problems with more problems. You know what wont stop further natural disasters? More data centers and pipelines in the Arctic. Gov. Dunleavy thinks putting a super-heating data center is in "the state's best interest." We say it's a monstrosity. Stak Energy, the company behind the project, is engaged in shameless grift — They've hired Gov. Mike Dunleavy's former natural resources commissioner, John Boyle, and a former special assistant at the natural resources department, Jim Shine. It's clear: this is a good-ole-boys club of Energy companies working with their government buddies to profit off the destruction of the natural world. There is no excuse. The further construction of Data Centers must be stopped.

♬ original sound - Climate Defiance

For Alaska residents, the proposal lands at a particularly tense moment.

The state is already dealing with an energy shortage serious enough that, according to the video, lawmakers are weighing sending a delegation to seek assistance. That has raised concerns about priorities, affordability, and whether new industrial demand could put even more pressure on limited fuel supplies.

"Supporters of the project are framing this as an opportunity to take advantage of abundant land and low temperatures for cooling, which is a really fancy way of saying that they're putting a very expensive heater in an already rapidly warming Arctic," the poster says in the video. "The North Slope is already seeing the consequences of a warming environment. The idea that a data center is even being considered for this area when there's already an energy crisis is counterproductive, to say the least."

The story also highlights the growing link between artificial intelligence, data centers, and the electric grid.

AI tools can help improve forecasting, balance renewable power, and make buildings and grids more efficient. But the infrastructure behind those systems can be energy- and water-intensive. If nonrenewable energy sources like gas power are used, they can increase pollution, as well as straining local utilities and potentially leading to higher energy bills or an unstable grid.

Climate Defiance also questioned Stak Energy's political ties, alleging that "this is a good-ole-boys club of Energy Companies working with their government buddies to profit off the destruction of the natural world." Those claims underscore broader concerns many communities have about transparency when large energy and tech projects move forward.

More broadly, the debate points to a need for tougher review of proposed data centers, especially in places where energy infrastructure is already under strain — a sentiment that is being echoed by communities nationwide as opposition to the centers grows. 

That can include clearer disclosures about fuel use, water needs, local grid impacts, and whether projects will be matched with new clean energy rather than locking in more fossil fuel dependence.

"Solving problems with more problems," Climate Defiance summed up its position bluntly in the video's caption. "There is no excuse. The further construction of data centers must be stopped."

Many commenters seemed to agree. 

"We're in a crisis crisis," one said. 

"We need to be able to vote on data centers ESPECIALLY for cities lacking infrastructure as it is," another added. 

"Who are the people that are literally building these things?" a third asked. "Like, how can they possibly think their paycheck is worth the destruction of whole areas?"

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