Natural gas is needed to heat homes and other buildings in Southcentral Alaska, and if we can’t produce enough locally, it will have to be imported as liquefied natural gas, or LNG. We won’t like that, but winters are cold.
Enstar has no alternative to natural gas. Renewable energy like wind and solar provides electricity, but gas provides heat. As Cook Inlet’s gas fields start winding down in 2027, which our state Division of Oil and Gas says they will, we need to make sure we have enough. Some have. Last winter’s intense cold snap and near breakdown of the natural gas system were related to mechanical issues and not gas supply but it did focus attention on the problem. Last spring, the Legislature built up a head of steam to do something.
It’s a little complicated. The quickest way to get new gas flowing is to lower the state’s one-eighth royalty on Cook Inlet gas, at least for gas sold to public utilities. But legislation to do it got bogged down. This included a bill in the state House by Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, and one by Gov. Mike Dunleavy that moved in the Senate. The House delayed passing its bill until just two days before the required session adjournment on May 15. The Senate bill seemed on a slow track, too.
Fair enough, why did it take so long to get consultants under contract to do independent analyses? GaffneyCline Associates, the firm hired, didn’t present its work to legislators until May 5. That was 10 days before adjournment.
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