Cook Inlet natural gas

If it’s built, the Donlin Gold mine project on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta would be one of the largest open-pit gold mines in the world, powered by a gas pipeline that would stretch hundreds of miles across the state to Cook Inlet.

Cook Inletkeeper, the Homer-based water conservation nonprofit, met this week to discuss two renewable energy bills in the Alaska state legislature. The group of organizers and concerned citizens strategized a way to fight for these bills locally.

In a Resources Committee meeting Wednesday, Enstar said utilities will need to look to import natural gas, which won't be available until 2030, while producers including Hilcorp told legislators about their challenges extracting gas in Cook Inlet.

Hilcorp Alaska and HEX Cook Inlet were the two bidders in a royalty-free lease sale that state officials hoped would incentivize production in the inlet. It described the outcome of the sale as "promising."