Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- A hometown crowd warmly welcomed Gov. Sarah Palin home Tuesday as she pitched her plans for dealing with Alaska's energy problems to the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce.

She was introduced as the "local one," and greeted with whoops and a standing ovation by more than 100 business people gathered in a hotel banquet room.

Palin used the meeting to provide a "snapshot" of her energy plans, from her proposal to give a $1,200 energy bonus to everyone who qualifies for a Permanent Fund dividend to the administration's work on a natural gas pipeline.

She said she was encouraged that development in Alaska was being included in energy discussions in Washington, D.C. But she said she found it "ridiculous" that the nation's leaders, including the president, were pleading with Saudi Arabia to ramp up oil production while places in the U.S. were still off limits to drilling.

"We're ready to tap these resources," she said. "We're ready to share them with the rest of the U.S."

She also talked about state efforts build a gas line and described as "healthy" a move by big oil producers to propose their own gas line.

Conoco Phillips and BP recently filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a preliminary review of their pipeline plans. That competes with a current state proposal to award an exclusive license and a $500 million subsidy to TransCanada Corp. to build a 1,715-mile pipeline down the Alaska Highway from the North Slope to Alberta.

"What we're seeing is healthy competition," Palin said. "Clearly the producers are sensing an urgency and a need to develop."

Palin, a former Wasilla mayor whose family still calls the city home, noted her shock at the skyrocketing cost of gas. A few years ago, she bought a diesel Volkswagen Jetta thinking it would be a great commuting car, she said.

Back then, diesel cost about $2 a gallon. Recently she saw it listed for $4.99 a gallon.

"Not to pick on any station in Wasilla ..." she said drawing laughs. "It's killing us all."

But even as gas prices are skyrocketing so are state revenues, which is allowing the state to save more, help fund education and propose ideas like the energy bonus, she said.

State Rep. Carl Gatto, a Palmer Republican, listened to Palin's speech and afterward said his constituents send him mixed reactions to the governor's plan for an energy bonus. About two-thirds are in favor and one-third are undecided. Some, like those who buy heating oil, definitely favored the lump-sump payment over an earlier proposal to dole out debit cards worth a $100 a month, he said.

Having the money at one time makes sense since they buy their fuel just a couple times a year, he said.

Those undecided about the plan, meanwhile, told him they weren't sure whether the state should be handing out money. He dismissed complaints, however, that the proposal was somehow socialist.

"We get a PFD. Is that socialism?" he said.

Palin also signed two bills into law: HB 373 extends a state reimbursement program for school construction projects until 2010, and HB 297 allows veterinary medical students in their final year of graduate studies to return to the state to work under the supervision of an Alaska licensed veterinarian.

Find S.J. Komarnitsky at adn.com/contacts/skomarnitsky or 1-907-352-6714.

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