Noah said he was frustrated that efforts aren't going anywhere because there are so many --including various gas line proposals and hydropower ideas -- in a tug of war. He said Alaska politicians need to figure out if they're willing to do what it takes to get a natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48, or concentrate on the smaller in-state gas pipeline proposal he's involved with, or on renewables such as hydro. As it stands now the state is putting money toward competing efforts, he said.
"Time to make some decisions, guys," Noah told the state House Resources Committee at a Tuesday hearing called in the wake of his resignation announcement.
Then-Gov. Sarah Palin last spring appointed Noah to lead the effort to encourage an in-state pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to Railbelt energy users, a line that might run down the Parks Highway to the Point MacKenzie area.
It's seen as a backup if the proposed gas line to the Lower 48 isn't happening.
Noah said the state Department of Natural Resources didn't obstruct his work in favor of the proposed big pipeline to the Lower 48, as some legislators have contended. He said the official reason he submitted for his resignation last month is true, that he does needs to deal with a family cherry farming business in Oregon.
But Noah said he also saw that he was going around in circles with his efforts.
Noah, who is still in the job until Gov. Sean Parnell names a replacement, said in an interview that the state is frozen waiting for a pipeline to the Lower 48 to happen. But the only way it is going to happen anytime soon, Noah said, is if the state signals it is willing to give the oil companies certainty on how much of a financial bite it would take in taxes should the line be built.
Noah said another decision the state has to make is if it will fund renewable energy projects like dams. That would help decide the fate of the in-state gas pipeline, he said.
"If you use up a lot of your electrical energy needs by alternative energy, you don't need to sell your natural gas to them. So it just sucks up your market," he said.
Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin, who is leading the state's effort on the pipeline to the Lower 48, disagreed with Noah's call for immediate decisions. Irwin told the committee that there isn't enough information yet on either the in-state "bullet line" project or the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act pipeline to the Lower 48.
"If you make a decision today you're lacking information from all the design on AGIA, you're lacking the bullet line information. I propose you need to make decisions but you need to do it with more information," Irwin told the legislators.
Irwin said the Lower 48 pipeline is going well and there is no crisis, but it is right to look at options like the in-state pipeline or hydropower and wind that could be especially helpful in rural Alaska. "Today is not the day to chuck out options. Today is the day to make sure all these things are progressing," he said.
Wasilla Republican Sen. Charlie Huggins said it looks like Noah is a "casualty of the civil war," and his resignation is a problem for the effort to get North Slope gas to the Railbelt. Anchorage Republican Rep. Craig Johnson said an in-state gas pipeline is the top priority for his constituents, and a replacement for Noah is needed soon.
The governor is proposing the Legislature appropriate $6.5 million next year to continue the work of Noah's team. The goal is to create a package of engineering studies, permits and potential agreements between buyers and sellers of the gas. That package is then be sold to any private company that was interested in developing an in-state natural gas pipeline, which could cost over $4 billion.
Some legislators have hinted at the state paying to build the in-state gas pipeline itself. But at this point there is not a serious proposal for that to happen.
Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.
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