Purpose
- Investigates the causes of economic imbalances.
Summary
The Donlin Gold mine would be a massive open-pit complex next to the Kuskokwim River in southwest Alaska, and the natural gas pipeline needed to fuel the mine would cut a swath from Cook Inlet, over the Alaska Range, to the mine site 315 miles away. In 2022, Hilcorp announced that it no longer has confidence that it will be able to continue to meet Cook Inlet energy demand as current utility contracts expire. If utilities in Cook Inlet are out of gas, they will be forced to import liquified natural gas (LNG) for electricity generation and home heating fuel. As a result, prices will escalate making Alaska less attractive to live and invest in. Meanwhile, Donlin Gold is banking on getting its power from Cook Inlet. Inletkeeper is working with an Alaskan economist to analyze the impact Donlin will have on gas prices for Cook Inlet residents and to highlight the economic imbalances of corporate energy demands on residential and local business users.
Purpose
This project satisfies the Foundation’s purpose by addressing the cause of economic imbalances by researching how a massive mining project might alter the demand for dwindling Cook Inlet gas, which supplies 85 percent of the Cook Inlet region’s electricity. This significant corporate demand for gas would propel the region to import expensive LNG much faster and lock Cook Inlet into continued reliance on fossil fuels for decades before the many renewable energy projects being explored in the region can come online to supply cheaper electricity for residents and local businesses.
Scope
The primary scope of this project is Southcentral Alaska, although the cost of energy in Cook Inlet reverberates throughout the State of Alaska. Cook Inlet energy costs drive business and investment trajectories as nearly 2/3 of Alaska’s population lives in the Cook Inlet watershed. In addition, the Railbelt electrical grid stretches from the Kenai Peninsula through Anchorage to Fairbanks and provides roughly 79 percent of the state’s electrical energy.
Amount Approved
$30,000.00
on 6/8/2023
(Check sent: 6/21/2023)
