Fairbanks North Star, Alaska: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy

Fairbanks North Star is home to Fairbanks and North Pole.

Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Badger, Chena Ridge, College, Eielson AFB, Ester, Farmers Loop, Fox, Goldstream, Harding-Birch Lakes, Moose Creek, Pleasant Valley, Salcha, South Van Horn, Steele Creek, Two Rivers.

Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities.

5 MW has retired here since 2019, including Eielson AFB Central Heat & Power Plant (coal, 5 MW, 2022). 27 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly coal. Its power plants have 386 MW of capacity, 62% of it petroleum, the 3rd largest fleet in Alaska. Golden Valley Elec Assn Inc is the largest utility serving Fairbanks North Star, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 30.32¢/kWh in 2024, above the 26.58¢ median for Alaska utilities. Employers here counted 37,074 jobs in 2025, up 0.6% from 2019. 93,972 people live here, down 1.4% since 2020, 3rd of 28 Alaska counties by population.

Utilities with service territory in Fairbanks North Star

Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers.

Operating power plants 7

Retired since 2019

Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out.

1 data center in Fairbanks North Star is on the SAVRN Data Center Map.

Local measures 1

Of the 3 counties that border Fairbanks North Star, Southeast Fairbanks carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined.