Legislative Council approves hiring two more consultants for gasline committee

by The Associated Press

Two additional consultants would be added to assist a legislative committee studying what the state of Alaska can do to push construction of a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to the Lower 48 under a plan approved Jan. 18 by the Legislative Council.

The council voted unanimously to spend up to $282,000 for consultants to advise the Joint Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines. That will bring the total to $814,000 that lawmakers are spending for outside help on the gas pipeline issue.

Sen. John Torgerson, co-chairman of the joint pipeline committee, said the panel needs a tax expert and an attorney to represent the Legislature before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“Most of the decisions made on the gasline will not be made in Alaska. They’ll be made in Washington, D.C.,” and before the federal commission, said Torgerson, a Republican from Kasilof.

The North Slope producers and other industry advocates have asked federal officials for tax incentives and have raised tax questions that his staff cannot answer, Torgerson said.

“We need to be able to figure out what the implications to Alaskans are,” he said.

Two consultants currently work for the Legislature, assisting lawmakers in studying aspects of the pipeline proposals.

Patrick Coughlin, a former deputy director of the state division of oil and gas, has a two-year, $364,000 contract to work with lawmakers on pipeline issues.

Northern Economic Research Associates, a Fairbanks firm, was hired earlier this month on a $168,000 contract to study the economics of a pipeline. Doug Reynolds, a University of Alaska Fairbanks energy economics professor who is part of the firm, will work in Juneau four days a week during the legislative session.

Lawmakers set aside $300,000 for the latter contract and Torgerson said a tax adviser would be paid from its remaining funds.

An attorney from the nation’s capital would also be hired to represent the Legislature before FERC at a cost of $150,000.