Alaska Legislature passes bill to advance major LNG project
by The Associated Press
Bill set state participation at about 25 per cent in project also being pursued TransCanada Corp.
JUNEAU, Alaska—The Alaska Legislature has passed a bill setting the state’s participation in a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
The House voted 36-4 on the measure April 20.
The Senate later voted 16-4 to agree to the House changes.
SB138, from Gov. Sean Parnell, would set state participation at about 25 per cent in a project also being pursued TransCanada Corp., the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., and the North Slope’s major players.
It would allow the project to move to a stage of preliminary engineering and design and cost refinement.
It also would allow the state to negotiate project-enabling contracts that would be brought back to lawmakers for consideration.
Some supporters expressed cautious optimism that this would lead to a long hoped-for project.
Critics questioned if this was the best deal for the state.
