Enstar's Cook Inlet gas storage plan (Kenai Loop Pool)
On July 10, 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.
How the public reaches this
The RCA is a governor-appointed, legislature-confirmed commission; the public reaches its dockets through formal comment and intervention. This prudency request has been decided (denied); the underlying DNR storage-lease question is still open.
Timeline
Sources
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How this decision moved
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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.
Articles on this decision
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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
July 11, 2026. https://alaskaaihq.com/docket/enstar-cook-inlet-gas-storage/ · Reuse permitted under
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structured data in the docket
JSON, item id enstar-cook-inlet-gas-storage.