Find energy and socioeconomic data for communities across the state of Alaska in the revitalized Alaska Energy Data Gateway
The Alaska Energy Data Gateway is a centralized platform providing access to energy and socioeconomic data across Alaska.
If you have feedback, suggestions, or questions, please reach out to akenergygateway@alaska.edu. Your input helps improve the AEDG to better support your needs.
AEDG adopts the definition of energy data developed for the 2023 Alaska Energy Security Task Force’s State Energy Data Subcommittee Report:
“Information about how electricity, heat, and transportation fuels are sourced, generated, stored, distributed, used, and governed; and the impacts on the built, natural, and socioeconomic environments.”
Many of the expert advisors to the AEDG 3.0 revitalization effort were members of this subcommittee.
Time was taken to define what consititues a community and how a community relates to other governmental organizations like Boroughs and Legislative Districts and energy-related entities like electrical grids and operators. Relational definitions like this are called an ontology. For AEDG summaries, communities are required to:
The list of communities will continue to be refined based on user feedback.
For more information on AEDG’s ontology and an example of a more general ontology for energy data, see:
Alaska Center for Energy and Power. “Alaska Energy Ontology.” Accessed May 13, 2025. https://acep-aedg.github.io/alaskan-community-ontology
Booshehri, Meisam, Lukas Emele, Simon Flügel, Hannah Förster, Johannes Frey, Ulrich Frey, Martin Glauer, et al. 2021. “Introducing the Open Energy Ontology: Enhancing Data Interpretation and Interfacing in Energy Systems Analysis.” Energy and AI 5 (September): 100074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyai.2021.100074
To cite the AEDG as a whole, use the general citation available here. This citation is formatted in Chicago style and is appropriate when citing the platform broadly.
To cite a specific dataset, navigate to its page in the Data Explorer and open the Cite tab. Each dataset includes a Chicago style citation that can be copied and included in references.
In 2024-2025 the AEDG 3.0 revitalization team set out to update the look and feel of the AEDG, the underlying software, and the datasets. After consulting the expert community for energy and economic data, the team identified three key features to deliver in the first year of the project:
Looking forward the team hopes to establish a Developers, Data Providers, and Users Group (DDPUG) to guide development of the gateway over time and ensure it meets a broad base of needs for energy and economic data for the state of Alaska.
The Data Explorer provides access to all available datasets and their metadata. Each dataset has a dedicated page with data, metadata, and data dictionary, along with descriptions, context, and download options.
The Community Summaries tool displays information for individual communities. While full datasets are not available in this section, the displayed data is derived from the same sources used in the Data Explorer and is tailored to highlight community-specific insights.
Yes, data from the AEDG is available for download. Each dataset page in the Data Explorer includes buttons in the top right corner to download both the dataset and its metadata.
Every variable shown in the AEDG includes a recorded definition to help users understand the data they are viewing.
You can view these definitions in two places within each dataset page:
JSON format. Within this, the schema section contains a list of fields. Each field includes the variable name, description, type and unit (where applicable).Metadata is a method of describing data so that is useful beyond the context for which the dataset was originally created. To help others make use of the datasets published through AEDG, metadata is included to answer common questions. Metadata describes the what, where, when, how of data collection and other useful information like the units and contact information of the data collector.
While metadata can be a simple text file, AEDG also uses it to generate web pages. This means the metadata must be machine-readable and follow a consistent standard format to ensure data is read and displayed correctly. To support this, AEDG uses the Open Energy Metadata (OEMetadata), which is an offshoot of Frictionless Data Packages.
For more information on AEDG’s use of metadata, see:
Hülk, Ludwig, Jonas Huber, Christian Hofmann, and Christoph Muschner. 2025. “Open Energy Metadata (OEMetadata).” Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15019562.
Alaska Center for Energy and Power. “Metadata Generator for the Alaska Energy Data Gateway (AEDG).” Accessed May 13, 2025. https://acep-aedg.github.io/aedg-metadata/index.html
The Alaska Energy Data Gateway (AEDG) gives you access to carefully selected energy data, enriched with helpful context. Instead of pulling data from just anywhere, AEDG follows a several step process to ensure what you see is accurate, relevant, and easy to use.
Here’s a look at how the datasets were built, so you can feel confident in the source and quality of the data you’re working with.
You need data that reflects the full picture of energy in Alaska: how it’s generated, stored, moved, used, and governed, as well as how it affects communities, boroughs, and the State as a whole. To get started, we looked at the kinds of data people found useful in earlier versions of AEDG. Then we added more.
We talked with experts to decide what important data to include first. The goal is to present data that is most useful for planning, reporting, or simply getting a better sense of what’s happening in Alaska’s communities.
Read more about the approach to data prioritization, cross-team collaboration, and phased development for the AEDG.
While much of the data is available online from public sources like federal or state agencies, some of it is not. To keep the data readily accessible, an automated pipeline downloads the data regularly, stores it in a local archive, and loads it into a database. This gives you quicker access to updated dashboards and ensures the system can easily incorporate new data sources over time.
The AEDG brings together lots of different datasets, all of which need to be brought into harmony with each other. You’ll find that the data have consistent field names, standard units, and quality checks to make sure the data you’re seeing is the best available.
The data has also been combined and re-organized so it could be displayed clearly by community, region, and other groups that are important across Alaska.
You’ll notice that AEDG shows most data by community. But not every dataset lines up neatly that way. Some information comes in grouped by utility service area, census tract, or legislative district. When that’s the case, the distinction is clearly marked, so you’re not left guessing.
You can also find helpful context about who created the data, when it was published, what units are used, and how it’s licensed. This information is available in the dataset’s About, Metadata, and Fields tabs.
Together, all these steps help you explore Alaska’s energy with more confidence and clarity.
Explore the Communities dataset page to see how supporting context is presented alongside each dataset.
Copy the reference below to cite the Alaska Energy Data Gateway (AEDG) as a whole.
Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) and Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). Alaska Energy Data Gateway v3.0. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://akenergygateway.alaska.edu/