By ROBERT SEITZ
Aug. 6, 2026 – I am told that those who are not willing to pass a “clean” property tax bill for the AkLNG project are doing so because their dislike of our Governor is greater than their love of Alaska.
They don’t want Governor Dunleavy to get any credit for the gas pipeline project going forward. I don’t understand why they don’t realize that they would also be lauded for their efforts to move the project forward if they would pass the “clean” bill as the Governor submitted it. If the bill is passed now, there is still time in this construction season to get things moving.
This would give us a winter of activity that could have a good impact on the economy by the time the next regular session of the legislature begins. Many of the goldminers who came to Alaska to get rich depended on someone for a grubstake. These legislators could consider themselves as having made the grubstake available for Glenfarne.
Alaska is still very much an oil state but Alaskans became lazy and quit paying attention to the development projects which could have kept our oil exports at a reasonable level to allow us to have a good steady flow of cash into our treasury. Many things influenced the decline of interest; fear of climate change being a product of oil and gas combustion; pressure from environmental groups and actions of past administration which were anti-oil.
There is a great reluctance to develop hydro power where white water rafting and salmon escapement up river might be hindered. As beneficial as solar and wind power might be for smaller communities it is difficult to build a complete power system around them for Alaska that can get us through the long cold winters, as we have insufficient long duration energy storage, and batteries are not long duration storage devices, but hydroelectric projects could be. So for now natural gas is the energy source for most of Alaska’s energy needs.
Hilcorp and Hex continue to drill new wells every year, so we will have more Cook Inlet gas available for this winter than we had last winter. What Alaska needs right now is an economic boost that pipe line construction would initiate. Once the gas pipeline is built the added benefit of natural gas in the interior will be able to displace wood and end the winter smoke and particle pollution in the interior. If they build a natural gas power plant in the interior, it will also decrease the demand on Cook Inlet gas. But the greatest benefit of the AkLNG project will be the flow of cash into our treasury through the sale of LNG.
Now is the time for heroes to step forward and provide the means by which Alaska’s financial future is secured in an active AkLNG project moving forward. Once this project is activated we need to turn our interest to encouraging additional exploration and development on the North Slope to increase oil production with the goal of getting much closer to a million barrels of crude oil per day through the trans-Alaska pipeline than what we have now.
We cannot sell enough scenery to tourists to equal the value of produced oil and gas to the treasury of Alaska. We cannot grow the Permanent Fund enough to make up for loss of oil and gas revenue.
The oil and gas wealth is needed to develop our next primary power sources, will could be geothermal and/or nuclear. We, however, need to get this AkLNG project kicked off to begin our trek to the next energy development.
We will lose more people, lose more businesses and lose opportunity to grow if we don’t give this boost to our economy and build an income producing resource. Quick, while there is still some construction season left, let’s get it done.
Robert Seitz is an electrical engineer and longtime Alaskan.
11 thoughts on “Robert Seitz: Pass it for Alaska”
“……. I am told that those who are not willing to pass a “clean” property tax bill for the AkLNG project are doing so because their dislike of our Governor is greater than their love of Alaska. They don’t want Governor Dunleavy to get any credit for the gas pipeline project going forward…………”
Several years ago, I’d find this impossible to believe, but with the phenomenon of Trump Derangement Syndrome on full display worldwide over the past 10 years, it appears that derangement has become infectious and debilitating. Still, I’ve always believed that gas line opposition/manipulation in Alaska was more centered on greed for tax income and imagined PFD checks. Now, communist envy of oil corporation wealth appears to also be partly to blame, since communists candidates are getting elected nationwide for various offices. Of course, environmental opposition to everything has its share of the problem.
We’ll see what happens when the lights get turned off. It didn’t seem to change anything in California, but houses don’t freeze up there. Of course, that won’t effect the Outside manipulators or the rich Alaskans who winter Outside (unless their house freezes up), but rolling blackouts ought to be a fun exercise, anyway. I’m looking forward to the whining and blame casting, but ultimately, it won’t matter except to extend the denial. Seeth in the dark. And this will last for a few years.
I’m ready…………..
Let’s pass an addendum to the bill in regards to subchapter s and LLC taxation to be applicable only if phase 1 is not completed in 6 years and phase two is not completed in 10 years. If they do complete it and it’s operational that taxation goes away for future legislators to decide.
Or Robert, their Dislike for America is greater than Gov Dunleavy. Because these Democrats aren’t hurting Gov Dunleavy. They are hurting America and Americans more. Gov Dunleavy has a comfortable life with or without the gasline, plus his legacy won’t be affected by this disappointment. If anything it’ll just secure his chances emboldening his 51plus voters supporting him being elected a US Senator
I suspect many of the legislators will read this article with a gleam in their eye, since the last paragraph sums up exactly what they are after. They do not want what the majority of Alaskans want.
Just how robust is a massive $75B project that apparently can only survive if granted property tax relief? Not very, I’d say.
Is Glenfarne leveraging the impending Southcentral gas shortage to extort these funds from Alaskans? Of course.
Or is the whole AKLNG thing just another pipedream? Well, the proposed 800 miles of big bore in three years certainly is that if not the entire LNG project.
Folks, move ahead with LNG import. It’s the only way to keep the heat on in the near term. Face it.
Anybody feeling’ the chill yet?
I thought you’ve been following this for some time since you are a self proclaimed former oil and gas executive? Had you been following along you would know thay they are looking for relief while they are building the project (and not producing revenue) so as not to assume further startup costs that are not a part of similar projects in the US. In essence they are asking to be treated the same as others in the gas industry are treated instead of being punished for building a bedrock revenue source to the state treasury for decades to come.
The initial phase of the Alaska LNG project—which covers the mainline transport pipeline and initial in-state delivery components without the full liquefaction export infrastructure—is estimated to cost between $13.2 billion and $16.9 billion. That gas pipeline would provide enough natural gas to heat and power the Railbelt (including Fairbanks) for a century or more. You continue to play the $75 billion game in order to kill the project. The problem isn’t investment money. The problem is people like you.
Oh, and if you want it so bad but can’t find anyone to finance it, just cash in the Alaska Permanent Fund and pay for it yourselves. There’s still be about $15B left over.
Or do you just want it built with someone else’s money so you have no risk?
Why is it not funded yet? Because the people with the money can see it for what it is – a relatively poor investment when compared to other projects.
I’m looking forward to the cold darkness at your home. When the news articles are published, expect replies to your comments, because I’ve got generators, wood stoves, and lots of firewood.
Hard, cold hearts have serious consequences.
Can you explain, Mr. Seitz, why we should invest in a project when Glenfarme or government won’t answer our questions about it?
.
We asked these questions for the umpteenth time at https://thealaskastory.com/david-ignell-the-lng-project-boils-down-to-transparency-and-trust/ …again, no answer.
.
Maybe before “Pass it for Alaska”, we should have “Answer it for Alaska”, no?
I don’t think you are being asked to invest in the project, but to give Glenfarne and potential investors the chance to move the project forward to completion. That is the reason for the tax relief that was requested.
Alaska’s investment to date was to give a start to the project by creating an organization and to fund the earlier design of the project.
Of course the majors stayed away from the project because the State of Alaska have proven to be unreliable and unrelenting in trying to tax everything associated with Oil and Gas as much as they(the legislators) possibly could to the extent that they have be driven from the state.
Private enterprise built TAPS and private enterprise needs to build the AkLNG project. The money to the state will be the royalties. If Alaska ends up with a percentage ownership of the project then the State would receive a share of the profits.
Whatever tax ( property or volume) is imposed by the jurisdictions through which the pipeline and other portion of the project exists will be used by the individual entities to pay for services rendered. The objective is to hold that taxation off until the pipeline is built and gas is flowing, so that taxation won’t scare of the investors.
And nobody knows for sure what the project will bring once it is started and each contractor finds out what their supply costs are and what terrain difficulties they might dig up. So many questions will not be able to be answered until the project is underway,
These are reasons why the project is put together the way it is. So out side interference can be reduced or eliminated during the formation of the project and during the project to allow the answers to the questions to reveal themselves during the work.
50 years I’ve been waiting for a gas pipeline through the interior. This is the best opportunity I have seen in those 50 years.
My big interest is to see the economy grow to the point where a Fabric Store will reopen to replace Joann’s and sewing machine service and repair is once again available so my wife will not have to complain any longer.