RCA allows Polar to relinquish certificate

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has approved Polar LNG’s request to relinquish its certificate for a proposed North Slope pipeline for transporting gas to a planned LNG plant on the Slope. Polar, an affiliate company of gas utility Fairbanks Natural Gas, had hoped to build the LNG plant as a means of supplying natural gas to the city of Fairbanks. However, that plan fell apart when the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority commissioned a near-identical project, with state funding assistance under AIDEA’s Interior Energy Project.

In the event, AIDEA’s North Slope LNG plan has also come to naught, with the Interior Energy Project now seeking new ideas for a Fairbanks gas supply. As part of the project, AIDEA is now in the process of purchasing Pentex Alaska Natural Gas Co., the company that owns both Polar LNG and Fairbanks Natural Gas - AIDEA’s objective is to facilitate the supply of affordable gas in Fairbanks through its ownership of Fairbanks Natural Gas.

With no North Slope pipeline built, no gas transmission service provided and the lease sold for pad that had been earmarked for the planned LNG plant, Polar told the commission that the certificate for the pipeline no longer serves any useful purpose. And, given the sale of Pentex, including Polar, to AIDEA, Polar asked the commission to expedite the certificate cancellation request.

The commission has complied, finding that the service covered by the certificate is not required “by public convenience and necessity.”

- Alan Bailey