The Alaska Energy Authority has issued a request for proposals for a $50,000-$100,000 study to assist the agency in determining if liquefied natural gas is a viable long-term solution for affordable energy in Alaska communities that will not have direct access to the proposed North Slope natural gas pipeline.
Senate Bill 138, passed in 2014, directed AEA to propose a plan and supporting legislation by Jan. 1, 2017, for improving energy affordability for communities that will not have direct access to the proposed gas pipeline. The legislation also established the Affordable Energy Fund, which would use part of the revenue from a North Slope natural gas pipeline to develop infrastructure to deliver affordable energy to communities that don't have access to a gas pipeline from the North Slope.
AEA said its Alaska Affordable Energy Strategy will recommend a suite of plans which would provide near-term energy cost savings and prepare the state to use revenue from the Affordable Energy Fund.
AEA described the desired work product as "a reconnaissance-level investigation based on realistic best case scenarios to determine where in Alaska LNG may be a cost-effective fuel for electricity generation and/or as a heating fuel."
If LNG is determined to be potentially cost-effective, the proposal will include developing policy options to assist communities in using LNG as a fuel.
Proposals are due by 3 p.m., July 8; work would begin in August and end in March 2016.