The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly is asking for a moratorium on AI data centers in its 2027 legislative priorities.
The priorities, which the Assembly approved Thursday, are a formal wish list for Alaska’s congressional delegation and state lawmakers. Elected officials for municipalities, like the borough Assembly, adopt them to send a formal message about what they believe to be community wants or needs.
The Assembly’s list is split between the state and federal levels, totaling 25 priorities. But only one item appears as a priority in both state and federal parts of the list – a request to temporarily halt the development of large commercial data centers in Alaska.
Assemblymember Garret Armstrong proposed adding the moratorium as a state legislative priority at an Aug. 6 work session, and a successful amendment replicated it as a federal priority, too.
“A lot of city councils, county councils, even state legislatures have proposed moratoriums or bans. This is not a novel idea what I’m proposing here – what I’m requesting the state legislature to consider,” he said.
The moratorium request comes after the federal government this year released a request for proposals to lease land at Eielson Air Force Base, Clear Space Force Station and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for data center development. There are also early-stage plans for constructing data centers on state land on the North Slope and near Houston, in the Mat-Su Borough.
Several residents came out to the Assembly meeting Thursday who were either neutral about AI data centers or opposed to them. Sarah Hollister told the Assembly her heart sank when she realized one of the parcels available to lease is near her family’s home in Salcha, close to Eielson.
“We need to establish strict regulations before tech conglomerates come knocking at our door. If we put protections in place now, we set the terms and the rules. We don’t wait for their army of lawyers to dictate our future,” Hollister said.
The Assembly resolution asks for a moratorium on the permitting, leasing, or construction of new commercial data centers until local governments and the state have developed standards to address things like electrical demand, water consumption, environmental impacts and air quality.
The resolution, as written, only extends the requested moratorium to “state-owned and municipal lands,” but Assembly Presiding Officer Scott Crass said by phone Sunday that it was intended to include federal lands, as well. He said he’d work with the borough clerk’s office to make sure that intent is captured.