Alaska commercial fishing and conservation center in Cook Inlet warns that the project could affect salmon migration, fishing operations, and marine habitat.
East Coast company DeepGreen Cook Inlet is proposing a 100-megawatt subsea data center that could include as many as 350 underwater turbines and 66 “hives” housing artificial intelligence servers. The system would use Cook Inlet water for power and cooling.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted DeepGreen’s preliminary permit application on Sept. 1, opening a two-month public comment period. The preliminary permit would not authorize construction but, if approved, would give the company priority to apply for a license while studying the site.
The Alaska Commercial Fisheries Conservation Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, and Kenai Peninsula Borough have filed motions to intervene in the federal proceedings, citing concerns ranging from commercial fishing and salmon migration to Cook Inlet’s endangered beluga whale population.
The fisheries alliance said DeepGreen’s proposal did not assess potential effects on more than 1,300 active commercial fishing permits in Upper Cook Inlet. According to its filing, the region’s commercial salmon fishery has historically generated nearly $10 million in revenue.
“(The project) represents a direct, substantial, and immediate threat to commercial fishing gear, vessel navigation, salmon migration corridors, and the marine environment upon which ACFCA’s membership depends,” the alliance wrote in its motion, which the Anchorage Daily News (ADN) shared.
Alliance President Russell Clark, a longtime Kenai Peninsula commercial fisherman, also raised questions about the project’s proposed location. The roughly 3-mile footprint would be situated in the East Foreland Corridor, the narrowest point of Cook Inlet.
Clark said the proposal does not provide information about how heat generated by the data center during slack tides could affect salmon runs.
DeepGreen maintains that it would address those questions during the study process. “A preliminary permit doesn’t give us permission to build anything,” DeepGreen managing member Louis Wolfson told ADN. “It just lets us spend our own capital studying whether the idea makes sense.”
Wolfson said fisheries and marine-life studies are a mandatory part of the process and that a project posing risk to fisheries or marine mammals would not receive a license to operate.
The Center for Biological Diversity has separately raised concerns about the project's potential effects on Cook Inlet beluga whales. Alaska director Cooper Freeman said noise from installing and operating hundreds of turbines could interfere with feeding and communication or displace whales from important habitat.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough also intervened, saying it wants to ensure residents receive adequate notice and an opportunity to comment as the proposal moves forward.
Borough Mayor Peter Micciche, who has experience in both commercial fishing and the energy industry, questioned whether the project could ultimately withstand Cook Inlet’s harsh conditions and powerful currents. “We demand contact and discussion,” Micciche said.
DeepGreen has since contacted borough leadership, and Micciche told ADN a meeting is planned. Wolfson also said the company intends to hold public meetings in Alaska after it secures equipment partners and develops study plans. Public comments, motions to intervene, and competing applications can be filed through Nov. 2.
