By SETH CHURCH
June 7, 2026 – I own Jewel Isaac, LLC, a commercial general contracting company that works throughout Alaska. I am not writing this from a desk in Washington, D.C., or from a boardroom Outside. I am writing as someone who employs Alaskans, pays Alaskan bills, builds in Alaskan weather, and talks every day with people who are trying to keep families, businesses, and communities alive in this state.
Alaska has reached one of those moments where we either choose a future or we drift into one.
For decades, Alaskans have talked about bringing North Slope gas to Alaskans. We have studied it, argued about it, campaigned on it, held hearings on it, and watched the price tag change while the opportunity kept moving farther down the road. Meanwhile, the energy crisis is no longer theoretical. It is showing up in our mailboxes.
A couple weeks ago, Golden Valley Electric Association announced an extraordinary fuel and purchased-power increase of about 61 percent. For an average residential customer, that means roughly $46 more per month. That is not a policy paper. That is groceries. That is a tank of gas. That is a kid’s winter coat. That is another reason a young family looks around and asks whether Alaska is still a place they can afford to build a life.
Interior Alaska used to be able to count on cheaper power from Southcentral. In 2017, natural gas made up roughly 30 percent of GVEA’s power. That number has collapsed. Southcentral is facing its own Cook Inlet gas shortage, and it can no longer supply the Interior the way it once did. So what happens? We burn more diesel. We pay more. Families suffer. Businesses get squeezed. Schools, hospitals, stores, mines, contractors, and homeowners all absorb the cost.
That is the real-world cost of doing nothing.
There is a lot of debate in Juneau about taxes. There should be. Alaska should never give away its resources, and Alaskans deserve a fair return. But we also have to be honest: you cannot collect property tax from a pipeline that never gets built.
The current tax structure has not produced a gasline. It is not competitive. It front-loads costs on a multibillion-dollar project before the project has revenue. That may sound good in a hearing room, but in the real world it is how you kill a deal before the first shovel goes in the ground. A tax structure that makes the project uneconomic provides zero benefit to Alaskans. Zero gas. Zero jobs. Zero royalties. Zero long-term energy security. Zero new opportunity for our children.
A workable structure does not mean Alaska gets nothing. Quite the opposite. A project that gets built means royalties from North Slope gas that is currently stranded. It means production taxes, corporate taxes, local revenue, and long-term value to the State of Alaska. It means the state’s ownership interest through AGDC actually has a chance to become worth something. It means Alaskans get a return from gas that has been sitting in the ground while our communities pay some of the highest energy costs in America.
The choice is not between a perfect deal and a bad deal. The choice is between a workable deal and no deal.
And right now, there is no shovel-ready Plan B.
Anyone who says otherwise should have to show the plan. Where is the financed alternative? Where is the permitted, buildable project that can deliver North Slope gas to Alaskans at scale? Where is the replacement for Southcentral gas? Where is the plan that keeps Fairbanks from burning more diesel, keeps rates from climbing, keeps industry from leaving, and gives families confidence that Alaska is still moving forward?
Wind, solar, hydro, batteries, efficiency, and local projects all have a place. We should pursue them. But none of those erase the need for firm, reliable, affordable energy. Alaska needs an all-of-the-above energy future, and North Slope gas must be part of it.
This is not just about energy bills. It is about whether Alaska is open for work.
A project like AKLNG means jobs for operators, laborers, carpenters, welders, truck drivers, engineers, surveyors, cooks, mechanics, security workers, camp support, small businesses, and contractors all over the state. It means private-sector work that can keep our young people here. It means a reason for families to stay, buy homes, join churches, coach Little League, volunteer, and build communities.
I understand skepticism. Alaskans have heard big promises before. We should demand accountability. We should require transparency where it is reasonable. We should protect municipalities and make sure local impacts are addressed. We should make sure in-state gas comes first. We should insist that Alaska’s people benefit.
But skepticism cannot become paralysis.
There is a difference between negotiating a better deal and making a deal impossible. If the Legislature loads this project with a tax structure that industry cannot finance, then Alaska will not have “stood up to Glenfarne.” Alaska will have stood in its own way again.
The sad truth is that doing nothing is not neutral. Doing nothing is a decision. It is a decision to accept higher energy costs. It is a decision to accept more diesel dependence. It is a decision to accept more people leaving Alaska. It is a decision to tell the next generation that our resources were valuable enough to argue about, but not important enough to develop.
I believe Alaska is better than that.
We are a resource state. We are a working state. We are a place where big things are still possible if we have the courage to build them. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline did not happen because every question was easy. It happened because leaders understood that Alaska’s future required action.
This is our generation’s moment.
The Legislature should move AKLNG forward with a tax structure that works for industry and protects Alaska’s long-term interest. Get the gas moving. Get the jobs moving. Get the revenue moving. Give families and businesses a reason to believe Alaska is not stuck in decline.
We can keep talking while rates rise, businesses struggle, and families leave.
Or we can build.
For Alaska’s sake, it is time to build the line.
Seth Church, Owner, Jewel Isaac, LLC, Fairbanks, Alaska.
6 thoughts on “Seth Church: Alaska cannot tax a pipeline that never gets built”
The ox before the cart. This is how dumb legislators create a bureaucratic state. Tax first, hire more government workers, then, try to let the project move forward with the heavy cart pulling the ox. Yep. Alaska legislators are DUMB.
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No gas pipeline is how it will all end, Seth.
I hope you win your race.
Why did Will Stapp vote to kill the pipeline? Isn’t he from Fairbanks? Time to replace that guy. You are the man Seth. Thanks for stepping up. Stapp is against the PFD and now he is against the pipeline? Who does he think he is?
Give him his walking papers and lets get the state built and give Alaskans their dividend.
Stapp is not a Fairbanksan. A carpetbagger who arrived via the military. His claim to fame is showing off his bullet wound to women professors at the local campus. Real combat vets don’t act this way. Something is wrong with this guy.
Should have built the Susitna hydro when it was affordable!
Those are good human Words of advice “Alaska has reached one of those moments where we either choose a future or we drift into one.”
That’s right. Choices today determines the future we will face.
Although I don’t think today’s Alaska legislature are as adverse to the building a gas line. They know Alaska needs development despite the current AKDemocrats rewriting of its platform which was more to trick its voters into believing Democrats are the party of environment conservation. They are holding out the project until they have Their partner they personally will profit from the building the project. It’s maintaining power and control for Alaska’s (very small) Corrupt club. The bringing of new players and leaders to building a gasline will inevitably bring into Alaska new leaders who are more competitive, more knowledgeable, and better skills than the incompetent and weak Alaska leaders we have elected.
Respectfully disagree with the statement: “And right now, there is no shovel-ready Plan B.”
Actually there are two other options. Each of which is just as shovel ready as the line from Prudhoe to Nikiski. First is an over the top line from Prudhoe to Kotz. Second is a shipping terminal / processing facility at Prudhoe. Neither of these have the multiple property tax problem.
Good piece, though. Cheers –