Same committee, same day, two close votes on Alaska LNG ratepayer protection — and they didn't go the same way

The Alaska House Finance Committee took two votes Tuesday on protecting Alaska ratepayers from Alaska LNG project cost overruns — passing one amendment, rejecting another, and revealing a tight 6-5 coalition split on how much the state should insulate consumers from project risk.

The first amendment, Amendment 15, passed 6-5 and directs the Regulatory Commission of Alaska not to approve contracts that pass Alaska LNG project cost overruns through to ratepayers. Sponsor Rep. Alyse Galvin said the language complements the $16-per-MMBtu price cap the committee adopted Monday, providing an additional safeguard the developer itself has endorsed. Glenfarne Alaska LNG President Adam Prestidge confirmed that support: "Glenfarne has stated that we are supportive of having language in a tax bill that protects ratepayers from cost overruns."

Rep. Will Stapp opposed Amendment 15 as redundant. "I think the RCA already has, you know, enough due diligence and power to be able to ensure that they're not going to basically sign off on a gas contract that's, say, exorbitant to Alaskans," Stapp said. Rep. Jamie Allard argued the amendment would prevent Glenfarne and investors from negotiating their own contracts.

The second amendment, Amendment 21, failed 5-6 — and would have gone further. It would have repealed an existing statute that bars the RCA from regulating LNG import facilities, putting those facilities back under state oversight even though they fall under federal jurisdiction. Sponsor Rep. Calvin Schrage said the existing prohibition originated as a poorly-vetted floor amendment, and that RCA commissioners had publicly said the language caused confusion in rate cases and posed litigation risk. Rep. Sara Hannan added that without RCA oversight, "we don't have protection for our ratepayers in Alaska."

Rep. Frank Tomaszewski opposed Amendment 21 on the theory that adding state oversight could itself raise costs. "Any cost involved with that import facility, any building of it, any maintenance of it, will be passed on to the customers through the Regulatory Commission of Alaska," Tomaszewski said.

The two votes cut along almost identical lines, with one notable defection. Reps. Galvin, Hannan, Schrage, Josephson, and Foster voted yes on both. Reps. Moore, Allard, Stapp, Bynum, and Tomaszewski voted no on both. The swing was Rep. DeLena Jimmy, who voted yes on Amendment 15 (joining the coalition that passed it) but no on Amendment 21 (joining the coalition that defeated it) — a pattern that fits the broader logic that the committee wants ratepayer protection on operating contracts but isn't willing to expand RCA authority over import infrastructure itself.

The committee continues working through amendments to House Bill 381, the Alaska LNG tax bill.