# Cook Inlet gas storage, the RCA's no, and AI's gigawatt > On July 10, state regulators rejected Alaska's plan to store a single winter of Cook Inlet gas. Published 2026-07-11 by Alaska AI. 9 slides. Canonical: https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-11/ ## The story Alaska's gas machine, in cutaway. And the valve that just shut. Five parts move gas from rock to furnace Reservoir trap, wellhead, pipeline, storage cavern, and the state regulator's valve. Part four is a battery for deep winter. Right now, it sits empty. Enough for an average day. Not for January. Cook Inlet's aging fields can meet a normal day, but not a deep-cold peak, and there is little storage to bridge the gap. A former state senator's op-ed warns of a Southcentral shortfall by 2027. Turn a dead reservoir into a winter battery Enstar proposed buying the depleted Kenai Loop Pool from AIX Energy and refilling it to hold 25 billion cubic feet, close to half a year's gas, for about $240 million and up to $12 a month on the average bill. Every fix runs through one valve The Regulatory Commission of Alaska decides whether a utility's plan is prudent before customers ever pay for it. The regulator shut the valve On July 10 the RCA denied the plan, calling it an "extraordinary request" that "lacked basic information about the project." The order ran 17 pages. Enstar's president said the company suspended the project. Can it hold? Now measure what wants to plug in One proposed North Slope AI campus, from STAK Energy, would generate "a gigawatt or more, some 30% more than urban Alaska's peak demand." More than $10 billion at full buildout. Its comment window closes July 17. Store one winter first? ## What we verified - The Regulatory Commission of Alaska rejected Enstar's request for an advance determination that its gas-storage project plans were prudent, citing missing information (an 'extraordinary request' that 'lacked basic information about the project'). [Anchorage Daily News (Alex DeMarban)](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - Statewide, Alaska residential electricity rates run roughly 40% higher than the national average (former state senator's op-ed). [Anchorage Daily News (op-ed, Lesil McGuire)](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/06/opinion-alaska-needs-energy-that-works-now-and-lasts/), report, 2026-07-06. - In many rural Alaska communities, energy costs are more than twice those in more urban parts of Alaska (op-ed). [Anchorage Daily News (op-ed, Lesil McGuire)](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/06/opinion-alaska-needs-energy-that-works-now-and-lasts/), report, 2026-07-06. - Southcentral Alaska faces a projected Cook Inlet natural gas shortfall by 2027 (op-ed). [Anchorage Daily News (op-ed, Lesil McGuire)](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/06/opinion-alaska-needs-energy-that-works-now-and-lasts/), report, 2026-07-06. - STAK Energy's proposed North Slope AI data-center campus generators could produce a gigawatt or more of power, some 30% more than urban Alaska's peak demand. [Northern Journal (Nathaniel Herz)](https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/), report, 2026-07-03. - STAK Energy's North Slope project would cost more than $10 billion at full buildout (an earlier $500 million reference appears in the same article). [Northern Journal](https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/), report, 2026-07-03. - More than 500 public comments were received on the STAK North Slope lease before the preliminary deadline; fewer than a dozen endorsed the project. [Northern Journal](https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/), report, 2026-07-03. - The STAK ADL 422741 public comment window was extended to 4:30 p.m. July 17, 2026, citing comment volume and public interest. [Northern Journal](https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/), report, 2026-07-03. - The RCA order denying the plan was 17 pages long. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - Enstar's proposed Cook Inlet gas storage facility would cost $240 million. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - The project would add up to $12 a month to the average customer's bill. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - Enstar proposed buying the Kenai Loop Pool, a depleted gas reservoir, from AIX Energy for use as storage. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - The facility would initially hold 25 billion cubic feet of gas, close to half the utility's annual demand. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - The Alaska DNR has not yet completed its determination that the Kenai Loop Pool is technically capable of serving as a natural gas storage facility. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - Enstar and Hilcorp Cook Inlet have competing applications with the Alaska DNR for gas storage facility leases at the Kenai Loop Pool. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. - Without the commission's approval, Enstar president John Sims said the company has suspended its plans to move ahead with the project. [Anchorage Daily News](https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/), report, 2026-07-10. Slides and the deck PDF are linked from the canonical page.