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Mayors from gas pipeline communities pushing for authority to operate gas pipeline The Fairbanks-North Star Borough, North Slope Borough, cities of Valdez and Anchorage are committed to putting a pipeline authority measure before their voters by The Associated Press
The mayors of communities that stand to benefit directly from a North Slope natural gas pipeline are considering asking their voters for permission to establish an authority that would operate a pipeline.
Fairbanks-North Star Borough Mayor Hank Hove, who discussed the plan with the borough assembly June 10, said that if voters approve, the project would be financed using tax-free revenue bonds.
Hove said the other mayors in the group are North Slope Mayor Ben Nageak, Valdez Mayor Dave Cobb and Anchorage Mayor Rick Mystrom. All have committed to putting a pipeline authority measure before their voters, he said.
Under the plan, municipal authority would construct and ultimately operate the gas pipeline, which would run the same route as the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline from the North Slope to Valdez. A spur from Glennallen would run to Anchorage. Similar to Whitaker’s proposal The idea for a municipal consortium is similar to a proposal by Rep. Jim Whitaker, R-Fairbanks, in House Bill 170. The bill, which did not make it through the Legislature this session, would create a state-owned corporation that would build and operate the gas line.
More than 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas lie beneath the North Slope oil fields, but the controlling companies — chiefly Atlantic Richfield Co., BP Amoco PLC and Exxon Corp. — have not yet brought the gas to market. They say Alaska’s natural gas faces stiff competition from cheaper gas in other countries. The gas now is reinjected into oil wells to increase field pressure. Inexpensive energy wanted Many Alaskans want the gas as a source of inexpensive energy. Hove and the other pipeline mayors have hired a New York law firm to advise them on how to make the gas line a reality.
“We realized we were out of our element dealing with the oil companies,” Hove said.
Hove said he would introduce an ordinance for the pipeline authority vote by early July. If the assembly approves it, it will then go to voters in October.
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