A Perennial Alaska Energy Challenge

Q.  Does Being Off The North American Gas/Elecetric Grid Point To Future Natural Gas Imports…Or An Economic ANS Gas Transportation Scheme?

A.  We have always held that Alaska’s politicians, for once, should wisely support the due diligent efforts of private industry to create economic solutions to ANS gas export potential.  Likewise, since our particpation on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, we have urged state government restraint in favor of supporting private sector due diligence in defining, funding, building and opetating the infrastructure necessary to both export ANS gas and to supply citizens with adequaate supplies of natural gas, whether it be inported or produced locally. 

See Alaska Public Media.Report Below. -dh

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Alaska Public Media, 11/22.  As temperatures have dropped and prompted many of Southcentral Alaska’s natural gas-powered furnaces to kick on more often, local utilities are talking about the need to import natural gas from abroad, rather than continuing to get it from nearby Cook Inlet.

That’s not something that’ll happen in the near term, and there’s no worry that gas utility Enstar or power utility Chugach Electric will run out of gas for people to heat and electrify their homes. Not yet anyway.

But both companies have hired consultants to explore the idea of importing liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to fulfill their customers’ needs as gas contracts expire….(More)