Nathaniel Herz, Northern Journal

Nathaniel Herz, Northern Journal
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an oil field

Arctic Bitcoin? Hilcorp, tech firm aim to test North Slope data center

A Hilcorp oil field in Alaska’s Arctic is set to host a tech firm that wants to use natural gas-fired power to mine digital currency.
Mike Dunleavy

Data centers face growing opposition Outside. Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants them in Alaska.

The Republican governor says Alaska has in excess what the data industry is finding increasingly scarce Outside: land and water.
a refuge

Hilcorp again eyes Interior Alaska for oil exploration

Oil and gas company Hilcorp appears to be moving toward new oil and gas exploration work in Alaska’s Interior.
a natural gas platform in the water

How Alaska regulators ignored a gas conservation scheme

When Anchorage’s big electric utility asked regulators’ permission last year to raise its rates by 5.5%, renewable energy advocates responded with a counterproposal. 
a trawl vessel

Two Kodiak trawlers caught 2,000 king salmon. Now, a whole fishery is closed.

The incident is sure to draw more scrutiny on the issue of bycatch — the unintended harvest of fish by boats targeting other species.
water near mountains

Bottled water companies and Anchorage’s water utility engage in feud

The president of one of the companies said the utility’s leaders had taken a “scorched earth, take no prisoners, Sherman’s march to the sea” decision-making approach.

In sign of North Slope evolution, privately owned Texas company targets Chevron’s Alaska assets

A little known Texas company is buying a share of a key North Slope pipeline and asked to buy all of Chevron’s oil interests in the region — reviving questions about the Alaska oil industry’s capacity to decommission aging infrastructure and pay damages in the event of a spill.
a food truck

In internet-less Sitka, it’s both ‘mayhem’ and a ‘golden moment’

Starlink units are a precious commodity. But people are talking, sharing stories and “doing what they used to do without the internet.”
a drilling rig

Small Cook Inlet producers say they need state government help before drilling for new natural gas

One company says it needs more support after $7 million of its loans were forgiven. Another wants a royalty reduction to drill a well.
A sign says AIDEA

Alaska’s embattled economic development agency signs contracts with 7 law firms

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, is pushing an array of controversial projects across the state.
a meeting

Inside the ‘titanic’ legal case that will help determine Alaska’s energy future: an analysis

Written testimony and public hearings help explain how an Anchorage electric utility’s proposed rate hike could affect consumers.
workers toss toss fish unloaded from a boat

As salmon season kicks off, some Alaska fishermen fear for their futures

“We’re trying to do multi-generation fishing,” Buck Laukitis said. “But believe me: It keeps me up at night, wondering about the future.”
an aerial image of a mine

In Northwest Alaska, an economic engine runs low on ore

Red Dog mine has sustained hundreds of jobs and generated billions of dollars for Alaska Natives. It's set to close in 2031 unless its operator gets environmental permits and decides to expand.
a sign

Shell abandons North Slope oil leases, raising questions about the industry’s future in Alaska

As the world pivots toward lower-carbon energy sources, experts say some of the state’s hard-to-tap oil prospects are becoming less attractive.
Japanese energy officials

Could Alaska be the final destination for Japan’s carbon pollution?

A new federal study reflects growing interest in injecting and storing climate-warming carbon pollution in underground reservoirs in Alaska.
a troller in the water

Alaska Senate proposes $7.5M aid package for struggling fish processors

The program would add to more than $100 million in salmon and Alaska pollock purchases — more than 1,500 truck loads — announced earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
a council

Western Alaska tribes, outraged by bycatch, turn up the heat on fishery managers and trawlers

The debate is increasingly urgent, as subsistence harvesting bans continue and proposed fixes threaten to impose steep costs on industry.
skiffs

Alaska fishermen and processing plants are in limbo as a state-backed seafood company teeters

"We are all sort of on pins and needles," said a local official in King Cove waiting to learn the fate of Peter Pan Seafoods’ shuttered plant.
a building

Alaska development authority signs contracts with ex-Dunleavy aides, paying up to $295/hour

Rex Rock and John Moller, both former rural affairs advisors to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, were hired by AIDEA through a competitive procurement process.
a Chugach electric sign

Green energy advocates say Anchorage utility ‘freezing out’ efforts for gas-saving price structure

An Anchorage nonprofit wants state regulators to force Chugach Electric Association to hand over detailed data on customers’ energy consumption.