State Senate hearings reveal that the natural gas supply from Cook Inlet is once again approaching crisis status. We have had years to address this problem, yet once more “the system” is failing the Alaska consumer.
We rely on a “regulated utility” structure using private enterprises for the production and distribution of gas. Now again, this system of state-created monopolies has proven to be an abject failure to insure gas supply over time. Given ensured profits with no competition, what incentive is there in Cook Inlet to produce additional gas locally without ever more costly government incentives and subsidies?
Electrical utilities, which rely on gas to generate electricity, testified that time is running out to establish “proven” reserves of gas; therefore, we are facing importation of gas into the Cook Inlet basin, an area reportedly containing significant “possible “and “probable” reserves of natural gas that are not yet “proven.”
Much of America, including Alaska, was and is provided electrical service using public utilities in areas where demand alone could not produce a competitive market. Has the time come to establish a similar public utility structure to provide this critical resource to Alaskans?
— Lynn Willis
Eagle River
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.