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 Jul 6
Bethel hauled water and sewer deliveries shift early for Independence Day
Bethel shifted hauled water and sewer deliveries one day early Saturday to beat the Independence Day holiday, affecting all three service routes.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Week of Jun 29
The public can't sit in as the Railbelt reworks your power costs
The body redrawing how Railbelt transmission costs get split is meeting behind closed doors this week — legal under its own bylaws, though the binding decisions still face public review.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago1 min read
A new federal water-testing rule could check rural Alaska for 'forever chemicals' — if it reaches us
An EPA rule would test drinking water for 30 contaminants, including the PFAS Alaska already has in its water. The catch: whether it reaches the state's small, rural systems.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
One Bethel gym burns through $419,000 a year in energy. An audit says it doesn't have to.
A single Bethel fitness center spends $419,000 a year on energy, mostly heating oil at $5.77 a gallon. An audit found it could save $51,000 a year for almost nothing.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Two Alaska towns run on water — and want more of it
Wrangell and Petersburg run on hydropower from a remote mountain lake — and a planned third turbine would draw 12 more megawatts, meaning fewer days burning costly diesel.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A federal royalty-rule change could shortchange the states and tribes it's owed to
A federal plan to simplify mineral royalties could shortchange states, tribes, and Native owners, as an audit finds the agency isn't collecting what it's owed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Week of Jun 22
Matanuska Electric offers free EV chargers to local businesses, but hosts pay install costs
MEA is giving away EV chargers to Mat-Su hosts — but only the box is free; the host pays to install it, and the co-op pockets three years of charging data.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
M4.2 earthquake shakes area west of Hope
Shake shake shake
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
More from Energy
A pass-through tax, not the pipeline, is the real fight in Juneau
A conference committee spent two days on Alaska's $44B gas line, and the sharpest fight was over a pass-through tax on Hilcorp that doesn't need the pipeline to exist.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago3 min read
North Slope, Fairbanks, Valdez sue over pipeline tax values
Three Alaska municipalities sued June 22 over how pipeline companies value their assets for local taxes, challenging assessments that affect borough and city revenue.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Federal regulators renew HEX authorization for Cook Inlet marine-mammal harassment
Federal regulators renewed HEX Operating's permit to incidentally harass marine mammals during natural gas work in Cook Inlet through September 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Point Thomson is the remote gas field Alaska's pipeline dream depends on
You know Prudhoe Bay. You probably don't know Point Thomson — the remote, pricey field Alaska's whole pipeline dream quietly leans on. And it's stirring.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Week of Jun 15
GVEA seats new District 2 director, adopts nine bylaw changes
Philip Wight won a Golden Valley Electric Association board seat with 76% of the vote, and members approved nine bylaw changes, both taking effect at the June 23 board meeting.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min readFrom 
Senate passes gas-line bill; Dunleavy immediately calls lawmakers back to rewrite it
Special session concludes without passage of a gasline bill, and now the question is if this is an end to negotiations or if they'll continue tomorrow. The Governor thinks they're close.
by Cale Green4mo ago3 min read
Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on an $859K Eklutna River study
The Anchorage Assembly's $859K Eklutna study isn't a small procurement — it's part of a decades-long fight over fish, hydropower, and tribal claims.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Tidal energy permit application opens in Isanotski Strait near False Pass
Tidal energy permit in Isanotski Strait. Small ask. Alaska has the biggest U.S. tidal resource, and Cook Inlet gas is running down.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo 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
Chugach is pursuing four hydroelectric projects to hedge against Cook Inlet gas decline
Chugach's gas-to-renewables shift has its first concrete entries: four hydro projects on four Southcentral creeks, 52 MW total.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Murkowski and Sullivan split on a motion to discharge an Iran War Powers Resolution
Iran War Powers Resolution: Murkowski yes, Sullivan no. The 2020 version went the same way. Pattern noted.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
DNR, Mental Health Trust finalize MEA easements for Wasilla utility corridor
DNR and the Alaska Mental Health Trust approved easements letting Matanuska Electric Association build and maintain power lines along Church Road and Shampine Lane in Wasilla.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Murkowski: War-price fuel barges lock rural Alaska into costly winter
Rural Alaska villages are paying $9 to $14 a gallon for fuel locked in at peak war prices and cannot wait for global prices to fall, Senator Murkowski warned
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Alaska Native tribes have month to apply for federal energy grants
Alaska Native tribes have until July 16 to apply for federal energy grants of up to $450,000 to build the legal and business structures needed to develop their own power systems and reduce reliance on expensive diesel fuel.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago2 min read
Week of Jun 8
MEA wins easement on Mental Health Trust land in Wasilla
Matanuska Electric Association won an easement on Mental Health Trust land in Wasilla to install electric utility infrastructure
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
Fish and Wildlife Service seeks $5M to cut energy permit times in half
Fish and Wildlife Service is asking Congress for $5.1 million to cut endangered species review times from 30 to 14 days, a change that could speed up Alaska energy and mineral projects that have faced years of federal delays.
by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's mayor told Senate Finance LNG could cost "tens of millions of dollars"
Anchorage's mayor told Senate Finance LNG would cost "tens of millions" — a number that lands somewhere between $23M and $173M. Her plan targets $23M.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks spur line language added to Alaska LNG tax bill
Fairbanks North Star Borough secured a requirement for a gas spur line in the state LNG tax bill. Developers must build the spur to access tax breaks. Costs will spread across Railbelt users to keep rates affordable for 3500 local customers.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
DNR offers 50-year North Slope lease for gas-powered data center
Alaska DNR offered a 50-year lease to STAK Energy for a massive data center on the North Slope that would use natural gas to power 1 to 3 gigawatts of computing, with public comments due June 15.
by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read
The Air Force wants to put AI data centers on Alaska military land — and the three sites tell three very different stories
Three Alaska military bases are auditioning to host the AI boom — JBER can't power it, Eielson is leaking PFAS at it, and Clear has 4,769 acres, a DDT drum dump, and all the groundwater you can drink.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago3 min readFrom 
Four Railbelt utilities file shared-solar tariffs in two days
All four major Railbelt utilities filed tariffs for shared-solar programs on June 2 and 3, letting Alaskans buy shares in renewable facilities without installing rooftop panels and receive credits on their monthly electric bills.
by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read
Week of Jun 1
RTO tariff subcommittee meets Thursday on transmission costs
Alaska's largest power grid is rewriting transmission cost rules this week to let utilities buy cheaper power as Cook Inlet gas supplies tighten and bills rise.
by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read
Trump invokes Defense Production Act; makes way for new Alaska coal plant
Trump invoked the Defense Production Act and is trying to push $89m to help build a coal plant in Alaska
by Cale Green5mo ago3 min read
RTO schedules closed subcommittee meetings for June 10–11
The Railbelt Transmission Organization will hold three closed subcommittee meetings June 10 and 11 to discuss technical standards, transmission tariffs, and financing for Alaska's 700-mile electric grid serving two-thirds of the state's population.
by Alaska Newsadded 5mo ago1 min read
Peltola cites fuel costs as barrier to rural Alaska campaign stops
Democrat Mary Peltola wrapped a rural Alaska campaign tour by small plane and boat to reach villages where fuel costs exceed $6 a gallon, pressing affordability as her main message against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan in the August primary.
by Alaska Newsadded 5mo ago2 min read
Alaska LNG tax bill ties $26.5B in revenue to volume, not value
Senate bill would tax Alaska LNG by volume instead of property value, generating $26.5 billion in state and local revenue. • The shift trades potentially higher property tax income for tax certainty to attract the project developer. • Mayors oppose the bill, saying municipalities would lose hundreds of millions in annual property tax revenue.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
ENSTAR says it locked in a price for Alaska LNG
ENSTAR locked in $16 per thousand cubic feet for North Slope pipeline gas, undercutting LNG imports at $20 to $23 but raising costs 48% above current Cook Inlet supply before adding $4.50 to $6 in distribution and storage charges.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
Alaska Energy Authority lifts ban on consecutive chair terms
Alaska Energy Authority board voted January 31 to allow its chair and vice chair to serve consecutive terms, removing a two-year rotation rule to maintain leadership continuity during a $206.5 million Cook Inlet submarine cable project.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago2 min read
Week of May 25
Alaska House examines $4 billion LNG equity option, Fairbanks spur-line tax break
Alaska House Finance Committee examined a plan letting the state buy 5 to 25 percent equity stakes in Alaska LNG for up to $4 billion total, while conditioning a tax break for the pipeline on building a 30-mile spur line to Fairbanks.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
Week of May 18
Chugach Electric wins easement for power line at Community Park Loop
Chugach Electric won an easement from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority to realign a power line at Community Park Loop in Anchorage.
by Alaska News5mo ago1 min read
Data center project promises rate relief amid public concerns over noise, power
Cryptocurrency data center would generate $2 million yearly and stabilize electric rates using existing power. • Residents worry about noise, fire safety, and power availability for future housing growth. • Company says facility quieter than old cannery equipment and willing to cut operations during peak demand.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago3 min read
Four nuclear startups race to bring microreactors to Alaska by 2029
Four nuclear firms racing to deploy microreactors in Alaska by 2029, starting 2027. • Radiant, Antares, Applied Atomics, NuCube targeting military bases and remote industrial sites. • Alaska cleared regulatory path in 2024. Air Force already signed contracts. • No US private microreactor yet operating or backed by commercial power deals.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago3 min read
Stack Energy Plans Multi-Gigawatt Data Center Near Prudhoe Bay
Stack Energy plans $20 billion data center south of Prudhoe Bay with 10,000 construction jobs starting 2026. • Off-grid facility uses local natural gas, targets operations by late 2028. • Waste heat could power large-scale Alaska greenhouses. • Company pays state taxes and partners with Alaska Native groups on workforce training.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago3 min read
