Alaska lawmakers are at odds regarding the proposed LNG pipeline, with the Senate Resources Committee chair expressing a lack of confidence in the primary developer due to insufficient information, particularly financial details. This has led to the introduction of a bill aimed at increasing transparency and accountability of the project, while the developer claims certain information is confidential.
JUNEAU, Alaska - Alaska lawmakers are divided over how to move forward with the proposed LNG pipeline after the Senate Resources Committee chair said she has no confidence in the project’s primary developer.
“To quote a famous movie, ‘we have a failure to communicate here,’” Senate Resources Chair Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said in a Wednesday press conference. The dispute drills largely down to one thing: information. Lawmakers say they don’t have enough of it to pass legislation they’ve been told is “essential” for the project, particularly financial information. Glenfarne says that specific information is confidential and, if provided, would threaten competition.“I don’t even understand what that means, LNG-enabling legislation,” Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage and a member of the Senate Resources Committee, said after Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, encouraged lawmakers to pass the bills. To address the information gap, the Senate Resources Committee introduced Senate Bill 275, titled the “Alaska Gasline Transparency and Accountability Act.” “The Legislature faces important questions about the project’s structure and benefits to Alaska,” the sponsor statement for the bill reads. “Key details of project agreements remain confidential, including oversight structures, financial terms and potential state revenue.” Giessel went further in a statement from her office, saying that while all members support an Alaska LNG project, the committee does “not have confidence in Glenfarne and the limited information they are sharing.” “Our concern is having confidence that they can actually carry this project all the way through,” Giessel said Friday. Glenfarne did not return specific comment about the bill or Giessel’s lack-of-confidence statement. Instead, the company continued messaging it has issued for months, saying “conversations have been constructive.” “Glenfarne and members of the legislature share the goal of a project that provides a long-term energy solution for Alaskans and finally unlocks North Slope gas,” the company said in a statement. “We respect the legislature’s role in protecting the state’s interests and we meet regularly with legislators, consumers, unions, and industry groups in public hearings and individual briefings to answer questions and discuss the project’s structure.”“Even if we are three weeks behind on our forecast date, we’re a year ahead of where other entities would be,” he said. But those statements stand in contrast to the sentiment lawmakers have continued to express after weeks of discussion on the topic.“We do need to have transparent conversation with Glenfarne,” Giessel said at a Senate majority press conference Tuesday. “At this point, they’ve been giving us vague generalities. Perhaps this bill will help them come to the table and actually address specifics.” Despite the bill’s stated goal of enacting common-sense gas line policy, it has drawn sharp criticism from several lawmakers who say it undermines the optimism the project needs. “Simply having here is going to have a chilling effect on investment,” Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole, said at a minority caucus press conference Thursday. “If the attitudes in this bill that are expressed are what we are projecting out to investors, especially where we’re altering the deal at this stage of the development, who’s going to want to invest with this?” While senators in the Republican minority agree more information should be presented to the legislature, Myers called the bill “concerning.” “I have always said it will move forward and it will be in the best hands when it’s the private sector doing it,” Myers added. “The more the state pushes in, the more I get concerned.”it calls “essential” for the pipeline — but lawmakers say those bills cannot move forward without more information from the developers. Among the essential measures, GaffneyCline cited property tax breaks and commitments to fiscal stability. Alaska’s property tax poses the biggest financial burden to the project, GaffneyCline Senior Director and Global Head of Gas & LNG Nick Fulford told lawmakersLawmakers have repeatedly said Glenfarne has not told them what policy initiatives it wants. “We have legislation on the books that defines what should happen ... Glenfarne now is apparently saying that doesn’t apply to this,” Wielechowski said. “I don’t know what legislation they think they need to go forward in this project.” Glenfarne says it is discussing “policy change” with state and local policymakers, focusing on “making sure the high upfront cost of building this infrastructure doesn’t show up as higher gas bills for Alaskans and is not about shifting risk to taxpayers.” The company’s statement does not specify what that policy change entails.Gov. Mike Dunleavy, R-Alaska, said Thursday he will introduce his proposed property tax bill next week — almost halfway through the session. “We’ve been working with municipalities on getting their input as to what this should look like before you put the bill out,” Dunleavy said alongside Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in Anchorage at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Thursday morning.“I’d like to see more information shared,” Begich said after his legislative address Tuesday. “I’d like to see more of the economics of the project shared so that we can understand what the full potential is and what’s on the table. I believe that’s going to come with time.” “I would like to see a little bit more information,” Myers said. “I don’t want to compromise Glenfarne and any of his negotiations with our overseas buyers.” “I think that we’re in a little bit of a gap right now as far as leadership on getting for the legislature hammered out,” Sen. James Kaufman, R-Anchorage, said Thursday. “It would be good if we were really getting kind of the list of tasks that we need to get done legislatively.”“Glenfarne is not providing us with the information that we used to get from the previous project that the producers were doing,” Giessel said Wednesday. “We do need a bit more transparency.”2026 Iditarod Live BlogAttempt to censure Alaska lawmaker over ‘ICE OUT’ sign held during Begich address failsAlaska lawmakers advance all-time high $523M Department of Corrections budget
Alaska LNG Pipeline Senate Resources Committee Glenfarne Transparency
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