HB 254: "An Act directing the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority to use money appropriated from the Railbelt energy fund and from other sources for preliminary engineering and related work for the construction of pipeline facilities to transport Alaska North Slope natural gas to the Southcentral Alaska gas distribution grid, and amending the definition of 'project' as applied to the work of the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 254 01 "An Act directing the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority to use money 02 appropriated from the Railbelt energy fund and from other sources for preliminary 03 engineering and related work for the construction of pipeline facilities to transport 04 Alaska North Slope natural gas to the Southcentral Alaska gas distribution grid, and 05 amending the definition of 'project' as applied to the work of the Alaska Natural Gas 06 Development Authority; and providing for an effective date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 09 to read: 10 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 11 (1) the 2002 initiative that established the Alaska Natural Gas Development 12 Authority incorporated within the definition of the Alaska North Slope natural gas 13 transmission pipeline "project" a provision for the development of a spur line to provide for
01 the transportation of Alaska North Slope natural gas to the Southcentral Alaska gas 02 distribution grid; 03 (2) the final rules governing open seasons for potential Alaska natural gas 04 pipeline projects developed and recently announced by the Federal Energy Regulatory 05 Commission require prospective Alaska North Slope pipeline project sponsors and applicants 06 to use results of a forthcoming gas study to design capacity needs and locate and install 07 special fittings to allow removal of gas from the main pipeline for the in-state delivery and 08 use of a portion of the gas, and to maintain and facilitate intrastate commerce, reflecting the 09 importance to the commission of providing fairly and equitably for transportation and 10 delivery of a portion of the gas for in-state consumption; and 11 (3) directing the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority to initiate and 12 engage, at an early date, in the engineering, design, and construction of a spur line to transport 13 Alaska North Slope natural gas to the Southcentral Alaska gas distribution grid is essential to 14 ensure that the state may take full advantage of the opportunity provided under the Federal 15 Energy Regulatory Commission rules and that sufficient supplies of Alaska North Slope 16 natural gas will be available 17 (A) to meet increasing residential and commercial demands in the 18 Anchorage metropolitan area; 19 (B) for electrical generation purposes in Southcentral Alaska; and 20 (C) as a principal source for ongoing operation of value-added 21 industries that require reliable supplies of large quantities of natural gas. 22 * Sec. 2. AS 41.41 is amended by adding a new section to article 2 to read: 23 Sec. 41.41.210. Development of gas transmission pipeline to deliver 24 Alaska North Slope natural gas to the Southcentral gas distribution grid. (a) 25 Subject to (d) of this section, from amounts appropriated from the Railbelt energy 26 fund or other sources, the authority shall initiate the preliminary engineering, design, 27 and construction of the gas transmission pipeline and other facilities for delivering gas 28 from the principal Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline to the Southcentral Alaska 29 gas distribution grid. 30 (b) The work required on the portion of the project described in (a) of this 31 section may be undertaken for the authority under a contract entered into by a
01 qualified contractor and the authority. 02 (c) In its contracts or agreements entered into in furtherance of the objectives 03 described in (a) of this section, the authority shall include provisions to implement 04 recovery of costs incurred that benefit wholesale natural gas customers to be served 05 directly by the facilities developed for delivering gas from the principal Alaska North 06 Slope natural gas pipeline to the Southcentral Alaska gas distribution grid. Amounts 07 recovered under cost recovery arrangements developed and implemented under this 08 subsection may be appropriated by the legislature to restore the balances of the 09 Railbelt energy fund or other sources from which appropriations have been made for 10 the purposes described in (a) of this section. 11 (d) To avoid duplication of effort in the scope of the work of the authority and 12 the work of designated recipients of money appropriated by the United States 13 Congress as grants made to identify and develop alternative transportation projects 14 promoting in-state uses of North Slope natural gas, as a condition of award of an 15 appropriation for the purpose described in this section, the authority shall agree to 16 cooperate with the federal grantees. 17 * Sec. 3. AS 41.41.990(3) is amended to read: 18 (3) "project" means a [THE] gas transmission pipeline, together with 19 all related property and facilities, inclusive of the planning, design, and 20 construction of facilities described in AS 41.41.010(a)(1) - (5), to extend from the 21 Prudhoe Bay area on the North Slope of Alaska 22 (A) directly [EITHER TO TIDEWATER AT A POINT ON PRINCE 23 WILLIAM SOUND AND THE SPUR LINE FROM GLENNALLEN] to the 24 Southcentral gas distribution grid or to tidewater at a point on Cook Inlet; or 25 (B) to tidewater at a point on Prince William Sound and a spur line 26 from Glennallen or another point appropriate for the removal of natural gas 27 from that pipeline [, AND INCLUDES PLANNING, DESIGN, AND 28 CONSTRUCTION OF THE PIPELINE AND FACILITIES AS DESCRIBED IN 29 AS 41.41.010(a)(1) - (5)]. 30 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).