Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)
On July 10th, 2026 the Anchorage Daily News reported the RCA issued a 17-page order denying Enstar's request for an advance determination that its proposed Cook Inlet gas storage project was prudent, saying the utility lacked basic information. The $240 million project would have bought the depleted Kenai Loop Pool reservoir from AIX Energy to hold 25 billion cubic feet of gas, close to half Enstar's annual demand, adding up to $12 a month to the average bill. Enstar and Hilcorp have competing DNR lease applications for the same pool, and DNR has not confirmed it is technically capable of storing gas. Without approval, Enstar president John Sims said the company suspended the project. Enstar reopened the question on July 23rd, 2026 with a 31-page petition for reconsideration, arguing the order was erroneous and suffers from a lack of true understanding of the nature of the problem, and calling the Kenai Loop Pool the only viable commercial storage option in Cook Inlet. Alaska Public Media reports the commission has thirty days to respond and that inaction is an automatic denial.
How the public reaches this
The RCA is a governor-appointed, legislature-confirmed commission, and the public reaches its dockets through formal comment and intervention. The prudency question is open again on Enstar's petition for reconsideration. The underlying DNR storage-lease question is also still open.
Timeline
Sources
Every document a fact on this page was checked against.
How this decision moved
One dated line per material change, oldest first.
2026-07-11 Tracked from this run's verified claims. RCA denied Enstar's advance prudency determination in a 17-page order (ADN, July 10); Enstar suspended the $240M Kenai Loop Pool storage project. The storage fix for Southcentral's Cook Inlet gas crunch is off the table for now; DNR technical/lease determination and the competing Hilcorp application remain unresolved.
2026-08-03 Reopened. Enstar filed a 31-page petition for reconsideration on July 24, 2026, calling the denial erroneous and the Kenai Loop Pool the only viable commercial storage option in Cook Inlet. The commission has thirty days to respond and inaction denies the petition automatically, which puts the next decision point on or about August 23, 2026, thirty days from the filing. Status moves back from decided to pending. Re-verified today against Alaska Public Media, July 24, 2026.
2026-08-04 Re-verified against Petroleum News, August 2, 2026, and against the commission's July 8, 2026 order, which Alaska's News Source published in full. The petition for reconsideration was filed July 23, 2026, not July 24 as this entry recorded, which puts the thirty day mark on or about August 22, 2026. The order called an advance determination of prudence an extraordinary request not explicitly contemplated in the commission's governing statutes or regulations, and found the record lacked a sufficient factual basis to judge the $240 million investment prudent. Enstar disputes the finding that a DNR pore space lease approval must come first, and says that starting in 2027 it anticipates a surplus when gas supply purchases will exceed customer demand.
2026-08-08 Checked and unchanged. No commission order on Enstar's petition for reconsideration has been published. The 31-page petition, filed July 24, 2026, calls the denial erroneous and describes the Kenai Loop Pool as the only viable commercial storage option in Cook Inlet, at an estimated $240 million against more than 150,000 Southcentral customers. Thirty days from filing keeps the next decision point on or about August 22.
2026-08-15 Checked and unchanged. Enstar's 31 page petition for reconsideration, filed July 23rd, is still before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska with no action reported. Thirty days from filing falls on or about August 22nd, after which the petition is denied automatically. The commission's July 8th order still stands as the operative decision on the $240 million Kenai Loop Pool project.
2026-08-16 Re-verified through Alaska Public Media's account of the filing. Enstar's 31 page petition for reconsideration is still before the commission, which has thirty days to act, after which the petition is denied without an order. That falls in the week of August 22nd.
2026-08-19 Checked and unchanged. Enstar's 31 page petition for reconsideration, filed July 23rd, is still before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska with no action reported. The commission's July 8th order denying an advance determination of decisional prudence for the $240 million Kenai Loop project remains the operative decision. Thirty days from filing falls on or about August 22nd, three days out, after which the petition is denied by operation of law.
2026-08-20 Checked and unchanged. Enstar's July 23rd petition for reconsideration is still before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska with no order reported. The commission's July 8th order denying an advance determination of decisional prudence for the $240 million Kenai Loop project stands. Thirty days from the filing falls on August 22nd, which is the date already on this entry.
2026-08-21 Checked and unchanged. Enstar's petition for reconsideration, filed July 23rd, is still before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska with no reported action. Thirty days from filing falls on or about August 22nd, one day out, after which the petition is denied by operation of law. The commission's July 8th order denying an advance determination of decisional prudence for the $240 million Kenai Loop project remains the operative decision.
2026-08-26 The thirty days ran. Enstar filed its 31 page petition for reconsideration on July 23rd, and Alaska Public Media's account of the rule is that the commission has thirty days to respond and that inaction is an automatic denial. Thirty days fell on August 22nd, which has now passed with no order reported anywhere this entry can reach. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska's own site refuses an automated read, so the absence of a published order is not proof that none exists, and this entry says only what can be checked. The July 8th order denying an advance determination of decisional prudence for the $240 million Kenai Loop project is still the operative decision, and Enstar has said the project is suspended without it.
2026-08-30 Reconsideration was denied. In a notice dated August 21st, 2026 and posted August 24th, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska voted 3 to 2 against Enstar's request to reconsider the July 8th order, which had refused an advance determination of prudency for a roughly $240 million gas storage investment at the Kenai Loop gas field. Commissioners DeVries, Johnston and Springsteen were in the majority, with Espindola and Vogler dissenting. The commission said it wanted "to further explain the basis for that denial in a written order" but had no time to prepare one before the August 22nd statutory deadline, so that order is still to come.
2026-09-03 Checked and unchanged. Nothing has published since the Regulatory Commission of Alaska refused reconsideration in its notice dated August 21st, 2026, so the denial of an advance determination of prudency stands and the storage proposal stays suspended.
2026-09-07 Checked and unchanged. Enstar's appeal of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska's denial of the Kenai Loop Pool storage project stands where the August rulings left it and no new order has been posted. The utility's petition of July 23rd, 2026 put the project at $240 million and said it serves more than 150,000 Southcentral customers.
2026-09-11 Checked and unchanged. Nothing new has been posted since the August rulings. The record still runs from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska's July order denying Enstar an advance determination of decisional prudence for the Kenai Loop Pool project, through Enstar's 31 page petition for reconsideration filed July 23rd, 2026, to the denial of that petition in August. Enstar's own description of the reservoir, in president John Sims's words, is that it is "almost perfect for what Enstar views as short term and long term needs". The estimated $240 million cost would be the largest single capital investment in the utility's history, and Southcentral goes into this heating season without the storage it would have added.
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Cite this
Alaska AI Docket, Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool).
Tracked since July 11, 2026, last verified
September 11, 2026. https://alaskaaihq.com/docket/enstar-cook-inlet-gas-storage/ · Reuse permitted under
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Questions about this decision
Answered from this record, rebuilt every day. The same answers come back instantly from the box on the docket page, where you can ask about anything else on it.
What is Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
On July 10th, 2026 the Anchorage Daily News reported the RCA issued a 17-page order denying Enstar's request for an advance determination that its proposed Cook Inlet gas storage project...
Who decides Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (prudency); Alaska DNR (storage lease and technical determination)
Can I comment on Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
The RCA is a governor-appointed, legislature-confirmed commission, and the public reaches its dockets through formal comment and intervention. The prudency question is open again on Enstar's petition for reconsideration. The underlying DNR storage-lease...
Where is Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
Kenai Loop Pool, Cook Inlet near Kenai
Has Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool) been decided?
It is pending a decision. Reconsideration was denied. In a notice dated August 21st, 2026 and posted August 24th, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska voted 3 to 2 against Enstar's request to...
What happens next with Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
No further date is published. It is pending a decision and the record is checked against its source every day.
What changed on Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
Reconsideration was denied. In a notice dated August 21st, 2026 and posted August 24th, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska voted 3 to 2 against Enstar's request to...
What kind of decision is Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
A regulatory docket, decided by Regulatory Commission of Alaska (prudency); Alaska DNR (storage lease and technical determination).
When did Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool) start?
Tracked since July 11th, 63 days ago. The earliest date on its record is July 10th.
Where can I read the sources for Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)?
Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Public Media, Regulatory Commission of Alaska, Alaska's News Source, Petroleum News. Every one is listed with its date on the decision page.
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