Last month on Aug. 11, Sen. Dan Sullivan was interviewed by the Kodiak Daily Mirror during his brief visit to Kodiak with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin.
The local newspaper asked Sullivan if he had any information about the Navy building an AI data center at the local military detachment on Spruce Cape, to which he replied:
“I've never heard of this. I think it's a rumor, but if it's true, I think it's a bad idea, and I will work to stop it," Sullivan said.
Sen. Sullivan’s Communications Director, Amanda Coyne, said via email that, “the Navy has explicitly confirmed to Sen. Sullivan’s office that this project is not a data center.”
Joe Plesha, a communications director with Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office, told KMXT that they had been told something similar but had no further details about the Navy’s new facility.
Sullivan sits on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, which discusses military programs and projects across the country. And although the Alaska senator said the data center is a rumor, the U.S. Navy is constructing what it calls a, “multi-mission support building” at its Special Warfare Center Detachment on Spruce Cape in Kodiak. That’s according to Navy spokesperson Lt. Samuel Hardgrove, who did not share more details about the nature of the facility or much information at all.
But Hardgrove told KMXT via email on Aug.14 that the operational facility is, “not a data center.”
He also said that the new facility will be powered from the existing power grid, although it will have back-up generators. But did not provide details about when it is expected to be operational.
That could present challenges for Kodiak’s limited micro-grid, which generates nearly 100% of its power from renewable energy sources. Most comes from hydro power at the Terror Lake hydroelectric facility and the remaining power comes from wind turbines on Pillar Mountain, which features six turbines total, each generating 1.5 MW, but one of those has been offline since March of 2025.
Dan Menth, the CEO and president of Kodiak Electric Association, the local electric cooperative, said if the wind is steady, the risk of exceeding max renewable capacity is low. But if there isn’t wind or enough of it, that means KEA turns on diesel generators to meet local demand, which the cooperative almost had to do in March when the peak load hit just over 31 MW.
“We didn't have to turn diesels on, but as the load continues to grow, that could certainly become a potential," Menth said. "And that's what we're going after in the future is how do we minimize that cost impact to the community?”
Menth said the Navy has not told the local utility specifically how much power the new facility will use. But KEA expects the Navy’s future energy demand could be up to an additional two megawatts at its Kodiak detachment, according to a utility planning document.
The document states that the new facility plus power needs from the expanding Coast Guard base and other projects on the island will exceed what KEA can generate through its current renewable energy sources.
Menth told KMXT that he has not heard from the Navy about cost-saving measures that the military could potentially provide for KEA if the Kodiak Navy Seal base’s power needs exceed local capacity from renewable energy sources.
Hardgrove, the Navy spokesperson, said work on the new facility at Spruce Cape will include, “site preparation, paving and site improvements, and construction of the building which include electrical and mechanical subsystems.”
As of now, it’s unclear when that work will begin. Coyne from Sen. Sullivan’s office said they are working with Navy officials to secure a briefing for local leaders about the Navy’s plans.
