Energy
RSSEnergy in Alaska is the mix of electric utilities, power generation, fuel supply and infrastructure that keeps homes and businesses running. It covers hydropower, natural gas and LNG development, rural electric cooperatives, the Railbelt grid and utility rates.
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Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
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Week of Aug 31
Juneau Hydropower asks FERC for two more years to start Sweetheart Lake dam
Juneau Hydropower asked federal regulators to delay the Sweetheart Lake dam completion deadline by two years, to September 2031.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Clay Koplin will lead Matanuska Electric starting in January
Clay Koplin, who has run Cordova Electric for nearly 20 years, takes over Matanuska Electric Association in January as Tony Izzo retires.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Some Anchorage homes went a month without running water last winter
Some Anchorage homes went a month without running water last winter. Frozen lines hit triple the usual number, and thawing them is the customer's expense.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom 
Week of Aug 24
Juneau's city-owned ski area has an unresolved drinking water violation
EPA records show a March drinking water violation at Eaglecrest Ski Area in Juneau, in the agency's most urgent category, with no resolution recorded.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A $2.5 million geothermal training grant for Unalaska sits 3 percent spent
Unalaska abandoned its Makushin geothermal project in May 2025, but a $2.5 million federal training grant tied to it remains open and largely unspent with only $75,000 spent so far.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
PFAS found in three Anchorage Bowl wells, one pulled from service
Anchorage Water & Wastewater Utility found PFAS in three groundwater wells, pulled one from service, and is seeking $4 million in emergency contracts for water system work.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska's transmission tariff would grandfather 11 existing agreements
Alaska created a body to end the tolls utilities charge each other for moving power. Its plan would leave 11 existing agreements in place indefinitely.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Nikiski inventor patents heated tailgate to keep drill slurry from freezing
A Nikiski oilfield-services president earned a patent for a heated tank door that keeps drilling waste from freezing before crews can dump it.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read
More from Energy
Comments on the $400 million Bradley Lake expansion close Friday
Federal comment on the Bradley Lake expansion closes Friday. The price has been stated three ways since spring, and Railbelt ratepayers carry the debt.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage weighs a $6.7 million bleach contract for its wastewater
Anchorage may spend up to $6.7 million on bleach to disinfect wastewater it discharges into Cook Inlet under a treatment waiver that expired 20 years ago.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 17
Golden Valley was short on reserves 94 percent of the last 250 days
Golden Valley was short on generation reserves 94% of the last 250 days, and its mix models 17 shortfalls a year against a benchmark of one per decade.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read
A $400 million expansion of Bradley Lake hydro would power about 30,000 homes and cut Southcentral's gas use
A $400 million Bradley Lake hydro expansion would power about 30,000 homes and offset 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a year, easing Southcentral's gas crunch.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A $413 million cable would give Kenai and Anchorage a second power link
One transmission path links Kenai to Anchorage. A $413 million subsea cable would add a second, if AEA can raise the half that isn't federal.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska's main power grid is getting its first mandatory cybersecurity rules, but not for years
Alaska's main power grid is finally getting mandatory cybersecurity rules, but none takes effect until 2027 at the earliest, phasing in slowly through 2029.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
ENSTAR seeks a Southcentral gas rate hike as two landlords move to dismiss the case
ENSTAR wants to raise Southcentral gas bills by about $9 a month, and two landlords are moving to get the rate case thrown out before its September hearing.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Railbelt ratepayers will repay up to $100M for a Bradley Lake expansion built around federal tax credits
Railbelt electric customers will repay up to $100M to expand the Bradley Lake hydro plant, its dam sized to chase up to $200M in federal tax credits.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Coming up
Energy in the North: Robert Venables on Southeast Conference Economic Development
KUAC FM 89.9 and KUAC online
Class
APIA Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program applications open for all households
Public notice
ASTE 2027 early bird registration ends
Public notice
Bradley Lake Project Financing Closure Deadline
Public notice
Federal Resource Agency Recommendations Deadline for Bradley Lake Expansion
Public notice
About Energy
Energy in Alaska takes in the electric utilities, power plants, fuels and transmission lines that keep homes and businesses running. It ranges from the Railbelt grid of Southcentral and the Interior to village systems that run on diesel, and from hydropower to natural gas from Cook Inlet.
Recurring questions concern the cost of heating oil, diesel and gas, whether Railbelt utilities can generate enough power through winter, and how to add supply through the Bradley Lake hydro expansion, transmission lines and the Alaska LNG project. ENSTAR gas rate cases and Golden Valley Electric's thin generation reserves are among the utility questions that return. Rural communities seek heating assistance and ways to cut diesel use.
State bodies such as the Alaska Energy Authority and AIDEA lend to and invest in energy projects, including nuclear and geothermal ventures. Energy connects to the oil and gas industry, to utility rates and to renewables such as solar, tidal and geothermal power.
More from Energy
Fifty-nine rural Alaska villages get federal money to defend their power systems from hackers
Fifty-nine rural Alaska villages are getting $1.73 million to harden their power systems against hackers. Some of those systems average four kilowatts.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
State's latest fuel survey put Alaska gasoline at $6.63 a gallon, and it is seven months old
State fuel data shows Alaska gasoline averaged 6.63 dollars in January. This report is seven months old and prices have risen.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 10
Bradley Lake expansion has carried three price tags in four months as the comment window closes
The Bradley Lake expansion has been priced at $400 million, $420 million and $435.9 million since April. Alaskans have until Aug. 28 to weigh in.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's water-coagulant contract returns with a pricier winner
Anchorage's water-coagulant contract is back before the Assembly with a supplier $855K pricier than the first — and no explanation for the switch.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Chignik moves to surrender the federal license on its long-dormant hydro plant
Chignik moves to surrender the federal license on a hydro plant idle since 2012, to build a state-run replacement. Residents have until Sept. 10 to weigh in.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Cordova, in a rainy region, asks residents to conserve water
Cordova, in one of Alaska's rainiest regions, is running low on water after a dry stretch and low snowpack — and the coming rain won't be enough to refill it.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
A UAF fix for the battery-and-generator clash in village grids
When villages add batteries to diesel plants, the two can 'fight' and destabilize the grid — a UAF researcher is testing a fix to cut rural diesel use.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Week of Aug 3
Cook Inlet's oil and gas discharge rules expired in 2021, and EPA is finally rewriting them
The rules for what oil and gas exploration can discharge into federal Cook Inlet waters expired in 2021 and have run on an extension. EPA is rewriting them.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A decade after a plan promised lower energy costs, Bering Strait villages are still studying the problem
A decade after a regional plan promised lower energy costs, Bering Strait villages are still studying the problem — as Kawerak seeks contractors to assess the diesel infrastructure keeping 20 communities running.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Kodiak has until Oct. 2 to weigh in on Terror Lake relicensing
Kodiak residents have until Oct. 2 to tell FERC what to study as Terror Lake Hydro seeks relicensing — a review touching power costs and the river.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Week of Jul 27
As Cook Inlet gas runs short, Alaska moves to squeeze 38% more power from an existing dam
With Cook Inlet gas set to run short by 2027, Alaska wants to squeeze 38% more power from the existing Bradley Lake dam — raising the reservoir 16 feet and piping in glacier melt, no new plant required.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
NuCube, Alaska Fund launch NuAlaska nuclear initiative
NuCube Energy and Alaska Fund launched NuAlaska to develop nuclear microreactors for remote Alaska communities where fuel costs and weather make power expensive.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A village's water grant score can hinge on whether the clerk took a class
A free state course Aug. 3–11 can boost a village's water and sewer grant scores — clerk training counts for up to 40% of project points. Sign up by July 31.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 20
EPA suspends Arctic clean-diesel rules amid Middle East supply crunch
A Middle East fuel crunch reached the North Slope, and EPA suspended clean-diesel rules there through Aug. 2 — putting more soot over Iñupiat communities and Arctic snow.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readFrom 
Eleven Sitka islands lose power for a day as crews swap a channel cable
Eleven islands off Sitka go dark for eight hours on July 31 while crews swap out an aging underwater cable. Charge everything Thursday night.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Murkowski targets federal conditions on Southeast's hydropower licenses
Southeast's power comes from dams on Tongass land. Murkowski's bill would limit what the Forest Service can demand as those licenses come up for renewal.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska has the most earthquakes. The program that watches them expired in 2023.
The federal earthquake program has been running on expired authorization since 2023 — awkward for the state that gets a magnitude 7 most years.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Many Bethel homes still haul water. This money starts to change that.
Many Bethel residents still get water by truck. The state just forgave $3.4 million in loans that starts the design work toward piping it instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Cordova's co-op wants a data center to soak up unsold hydropower
Cordova has more hydropower than buyers, and a weak fish season is pushing rates up. The co-op's fix: a data center in a warehouse storage bay.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 13
Railbelt Transmission Organization schedules three subcommittee meetings
The Railbelt Transmission Organization scheduled three closed subcommittee meetings in late July to finalize a tariff that would standardize power-sharing charges among utilities.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
APIA cuts heating assistance 20% for 10 Aleutian and Pribilof communities
APIA is cutting heating assistance 20 percent for Alaska Native households in ten Aleutian and Pribilof communities in 2027 to stretch limited funding.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Peltola puts numbers on rural fuel crisis: $21 a gallon in Noatak, $15 coming for St. Mary's
Senate candidate Mary Peltola cited fuel prices of $21 a gallon in Noatak and $14 to $15 expected in St. Mary's, calling for Congress to investigate price gouging.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
North Slope Borough approves $5M water and sewer increase after Point Lay freeze-up
North Slope Borough approved a $5 million increase to its water and sewer contract Monday after a village-wide freeze-up in Point Lay that has lasted since December 2025.
by Lucas Brown3mo ago2 min read
A glacier-dammed lake is emptying into the Salmon River near Hyder
A glacier-dammed lake above Hyder is draining out the bottom of the Salmon Glacier, swelling the Salmon River and threatening the Premier road — like it has almost every summer since 1961.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
