Anchorage Daily News

State Senate Minority Leader Gene Therriault is resigning from the Legislature after 17 years for a job in the new administration of Gov. Sean Parnell.

He will be Parnell's senior policy advisor on Alaska energy, a newly created job.

The Republican from North Pole said Parnell approached him after the special session earlier this month and said he wanted help with in-state energy initiatives. Therriault said that includes the proposed "bullet line" to run natural gas from the North Slope to Southcentral, electrical intertie issues, and alternatives for rural village energy.

"(Parnell) just felt that he needed somebody to help him just take the huge amount of information that is coming back from all those initiatives and determine where the state should place its emphasis to get some success," Therriault said.

Parnell said in a written statement that the "position will bring greater focus, coordination, and analysis related to development of Alaska's vast energy resources."

Therriault said the position will be based out of Fairbanks, but that he will spend a large part of the 90-day legislative session in Juneau. This is a new position in state government that Parnell is creating; no one has had it previously. Therriault said the final salary hasn't been set but the range is from $90,000 to $109,000 a year.

How long the job lasts could depend on whether Parnell is successful in next fall's election. But there would still be some lasting benefit to Therriault because state retirement pay for legislators is based on the average of their three highest-earning years in government.

Therriault has already achieved the power heights of the Legislature: He is a former state Senate President and co-chair of the state House Finance Committee, which writes the budget. He is soft spoken but has engaged in bitter fights with his rivals, including former state Senate President Ben Stevens, the son of Ted Stevens.

Therriault has been closely involved with oil and gas issues during his time in the Legislature. He supported then-Gov. Sarah Palin in her push to raise taxes on the oil industry and her approach to securing a natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48.

Therriault was probably the closest ally for the Palin/Parnell administration in a Legislature where Palin ended up with few friends by the time she resigned. He was master of ceremonies in Fairbanks last month when Palin stepped down and handed power to Parnell, her lieutenant governor.

Parnell will now appoint a replacement for Therriault in the massive Senate District F, which runs from North Pole down to Sutton in the Matanuska Valley, as well as following the Richardson Highway through Glennallen and Valdez. The Republican Party will recommend candidates.

If the new appointee does not join the Senate minority, then the minority will be down to just three members of the 20-member Senate.

"Certainly my colleagues (in the minority) expressed a bit of dismay that I was leaving but they felt it was a good utilization of the skills I've gathered up and that it was a good move on behalf of the administration," Therriault said.

Therriault will start the new job in mid-September.

"Specifically, I am asking Sen. Therriault to help us achieve success in bringing more of Alaska's energy resources - of all kinds - to Alaskan homes and businesses," Parnell said.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.

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