Governor Sean Parnell’s gas line legislation was presented to legislative committees this week.
Senate Finance was briefed Monday morning and during that meeting Co-Chair Kevin Meyer stated that it is difficult be excited for something that has been introduced so many times before, just by different names.
Meyers: “But this one is different, instead of working against the producers, we’re working as a partnership and I’m encouraged by that. And also I’m encouraged in the sense that we’ll be owners in the pipeline which gets us at the table so that we at least know what’s going on. I’m getting old, I’ve been hearing this too many times and I’m done doing cartwheels. But I do want to see a gas pipeline in my lifetime.”
Deputy Revenue Commissioner Mike Pawlowski offered this assurance…
Pawslowski: “It’s not just about what will happen, but it’s, I think, things that we are seeing happening today. One, last summer we saw a significant summer field season conducted, from Livengood to the North Slope. We’ve also seen quietly the company start to pursue land acquisition on the Kenai for the LNG terminal. There are things happening today that give us a bit more confidence than things we have seen in the past.”
Revenue Commissioner Angela Rodell said an agreement to advance a liquefied natural gas project represents a “groundbreaking achievement” for Alaska.
Despite the potential achievement, several decision points still need to be made before the deal is done.
The legislation sets general terms and allows the project to move into the preliminary engineering phase.
The cost is expected to be more than $400 million shared by TransCanada Corporation, Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, and Alaska, with Alaska’s share possibly getting up to $90 million.