Video Clips
Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.
Brett Watson
“estimates from NSTAR suggest that in addition to the purchasing the commodity on the spot market, we'd need to pay an additional dollar or so per MCF to ship that gas an additional $3 to $5 on top of that to build the infrastructure to receive that gas and regasify it from its LNG form. So kind of all-in costs from this no-project case represent gas prices somewhere in the neighborhood of $9 to $21.”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Matt Kissinger
“pursuing the loan guarantees with the federal government, getting lower gas prices and addressing the property tax imbalance”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Cathy Giessel
“we looked at capping the price of gas to consumers. We looked at not allowing any cost overruns to be put on taxpayers, onto consumers, Alaska consumers”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Cathy Giessel
“What if it stops with only Phase 1? We want a limit on how long the tax abatement the forgiveness, the elimination of those property taxes go”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“The biggest difference between no project and Phase 1 is really the volatility that you'll see on the LNG import market. So, you know, you can look at JKM futures and get sort of an indication as to what the market thinks they may be. But the reality is, when you look at those futures versus what they actually were, there's an enormous amount of volatility that happens on the LNG market”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Cathy Giessel
“right now Glenfarn is a limited liability corporation. That means they're a pass-through entity, which means they pay no corporate tax to the state of Alaska on their profits”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Peter Micciche
“This is a condensed facility that will receive every borough service at a very large proportion to the neighboring neighbor, to the neighbor next door who's going to be paying $9,000. Okay, first bill is $2,000, quarter of what the neighbor's paying”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“All of the green that represents the Hillcorp contract. So in 2033, that green is going away and we need to have another solution in place so that we can meet our customers' needs.”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“What PRA said is that in order to meet demand starting in 2010 through 2020, up to 185 wells would need to be drilled over that timeframe. That requires an estimated $1.8 to $2.8 billion and would need about an average of 13.6 wells completed per year.”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Brett Watson
“that yellow line is the trajectory for Phase 1 prices. Those start at $16 per MCF and would escalate by 2% or inflation per year, whatever's lower, um, uh, until Phase 2 is achieved, and that's that blue line where prices would drop to $5 and then escalate by 2% or inflation, whichever is lower.”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Matt Kissinger
“this is a marginal project, and we don't need more studies to tell us that. We know this is a marginal project simply by the fact that Despite our need for it, despite this enormous amount of gas, we so far haven't been able to get it done.”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Matt Kissinger
“Cook Inlet gas resources are declining. We are getting to a point, as I believe Mr. Sims can agree, to where it's becoming quite critical, and we have to move the project forward”Taxes and the Alaska Gas Line: The Fiscal Questions Behind AK's Energy Future · Jun 9, 2026
Neal Foster
“it sounds like there's maybe about 4 more amendments that we'll be tackling. However, there need to— there are a number of conceptual amendments to the amendments that we'll be addressing. Ledge Legal is going to need a little bit of time to draft those.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 2:00pm · Jun 9, 2026
Neal Foster
“our next meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, which is Wednesday, June 10th, at 11:00 AM. We'll take up the remaining amendments.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 2:00pm · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“We don't have employees. We have 21 members. Okay, we have members.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“PAWS scholarship and awards, 2021 to current, we awarded 16 students, received education scholarship of total of $19,200.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“a lot of times that we do a project, we fundraise for that project, and if we don't have enough our board member will come in and say, okay, let's do another fundraising, or let's donate in to try to get this program going”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“its mission is to seize empower and educate individuals and families, and most of all, we promote pride and acceptance of all cultures.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“my name is Lucy Hansen. I'm the CEO of the Polynesian Association of Alaska”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“I used to work for the state of Alaska. I retired after 27 years with the state, and, um, I said I'm going to put my time into my nonprofit because I want to help my community. But then working with my community, it's not just my community that I see the need It's more than just Pacific Island community.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“all of us are volunteers through our community, through our organization. None of us are paid staff. We volunteer our services to the community.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“right now we're close to about 35,000 of our Pacific Islander all over Alaska, and most of them, 75% or 80%, are here in Anchorage.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“This last May, we just completed our 21 years since we started our Asian and Pacific Island Heritage Month, and we did that down at the Park Strip last Saturday, even though it was cold, but It was a lot of people there. I think people were just dying to get out of the house, but it was a lot of people, about 1,500 people.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“In 2021, when we had started our homeless and rental and rental and utility assistance program, when we first— that night when we first brought it to the community, I mean, the hall was full of people, and I didn't know that I know that we do need that service, but I didn't know how many families needed it. But when we went to sleep that night, I only— we woke up the next day, we had 15 applications, but our program can only accept 2 first applications that we receive per month because we don't have enough funding for it to help everybody.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“PAL also, um, through their education We started Pacific Island Education Scholarship in 2021, and currently we have 18 students that's already awarded for this scholarship, and that's about $21,600”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“Polynesian Association of Alaska started back in 2004 in a small office down here on the Thompson Building on 3rd Avenue”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“I'm looking for funding for any of those programs. You know, if you can fund me for the rental assistance program and utilities to keep people from getting evicted from their home, and that's what our program is for, for that, is to keep them from not evicting from their house.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“there's a need out there and there's work that nobody can see, only us. You know, and I want to share with you all, if you ever see my application come in at some point, somehow, you know, you think about what I, you know, what I do or what we do. We don't have any paid staff at all, not like other organizations that pay their staff.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“during COVID we also, not just my community, but we do peer leader navigator through ALP, and we have a lot of calls from a lot of other communities, not just specific Latin communities.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“up to now, we still have— we just helped 2 families last month on their electricity and their gas, but we still looking for funding to help the community.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“390 Individuals, 42 families from 2 members to 10 members in the household. Rentals, 25 families. Electricity and gas, 16 families.”Anchorage Assembly: HHAND Commission Monthly Meeting June 2026 · Jun 9, 2026
Frank Tomaszewski
“I believe now, right now, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates the import facilities, and I think you may unknowingly or unwittingly add, by adding the RCA to regulate the import facility, I think What may end up happening is 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.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 11:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Sara Hannan
“without establishing RCA oversight, um, we don't have protection for our ratepayers in Alaska. And right now that federal oversight of FERC has a slightly different goal, and they As we heard from Mr. Stickel that— and I, and I believe Mr. Kissinger, the interstate actions are not regulated by the RCA. And I want to make sure that we have the opportunity for Alaskan ratepayers to participate in dockets and hearings and understand the costs that may roll into their utility costs.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 11:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Calvin Schrage
“Amendment 21 repeals the existing statute that prohibits the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, also known as the RCA, from regulating an LNG import facility which falls under federal jurisdiction. This amendment specifically places liquefied natural gas facilities under RCA jurisdiction.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 11:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Neal Foster
“5 Yea, 6 nay. So on a vote of 5 yea to 6 nay, Amendment Number 20 has not been adopted.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 11:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Calvin Schrage
“the RCA is there to protect ratepayers and make sure that the costs that are being passed on to ratepayers are justified and valid and necessary. And there is concern that an LNG import facility could have excessive costs that could ultimately be passed on to the ratepayer. And so that's where I've heard a desire to ensure that an import facility itself is covered under RCA jurisdiction to make sure that those costs associated with that facility are able to be evaluated and scrutinized by the RCA.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 11:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Calvin Schrage
“My understanding is that there is a desire to continue to have RCA oversight over LNG sales through an import facility. You know, I think it's still envisioned that there could be imports at some point, and if that is the case, I've heard loudly from many stakeholders that they'd like to see those sales under RCA jurisdiction.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 11:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Calvin Schrage
“This brings us back to where we were prior to that amendment, reenacts the status quo, and again provides additional protection for ratepayers from unnecessary costs being passed on to them, and I think it's a step in the right direction.”Alaska Legislature: House Finance - June 9, 2026 11:00am · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“those are all fantastic points that you raise and concerns for anyone that's investing or developing the project. From my perspective, and one of the reasons why we've taken the better part of a year to negotiate this contract, my job is to ensure that my kids and my kids' kids have low cost of energy. And so when I evaluate and negotiate this contract, it doesn't matter to me what the project cost is. It only matters what the price I can receive through this contract as it relates to the alternatives for receiving natural gas in the community.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“I balance a contract for a price per MCF with a certain inflation factor what that price looks like over a long period of time, which is 30 years, and how that compares to the other alternatives. And NSTAR has spent over $4.5 million on analysis, demand studies, worldwide RFPs to bring in the best of the best to meet our customers' needs. And this is the project that's selected— that we selected because of the potential it has to reduce the cost of energy and how it compares to the other alternatives.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Bert Stedman
“my understanding is Glenfarm is not going to pursue government-backed debt financing. They're going to go into the private market. And if the spread is 100 basis points or 1%, because we've been told at the federal level it's going to be federal bond rate, if it's 20 years, it's plus 3/8, 20-year bond rate, or 30-year bond rate plus 3/8.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“we take those prices and we bundle them all together and file them with the commission in what we call our gas cost adjustment. So it takes all of the volumes from what you're seeing here, which is right around $8.50, the $12.30 from Fury, and then that $16 gas, average it all together, and that results in a weighted average cost of gas of about $10.80 is what our customers are paying today.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“We can, we can talk a lot about increasing the price, but price is only as good as the alternative solutions that are out there. And ultimately, when we look at a long-term solution, we have to have our customers in mind.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“when the pipeline is built, after a certain transition period, the AK LNG project will, will will buy the assets of the LNG import project. And why that's important is they're currently two independent projects. And if that wasn't set up that way, we would still have to pay for the LNG infrastructure even though we're not bringing in LNG import. So that's, that's the principle behind this is the AK LNG project will procure the LNG import infrastructure and assets that have already been built that will remove the cost obligation from the ratepayers.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Bert Stedman
“I'd recommend that you put put in reopeners not to pierce the ceiling of 16% plus 2%, but to pierce the floor and go down. They don't have a project without you. And I would recommend to my rail belt colleagues that they encourage you to have reopeners so if there ever is an opportunity to move the price of energy down, You can exercise that if it's every 5 years, every 10 years, or some form.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
John Sims
“NStar is not providing any equity for either of these projects. Back in 2024, we were contemplating making an investment in the LNG import terminal. And then on the floor in 2024, HB 307 Amendment 14, with the exception of one vote, the entire House voted to prohibit LNG facilities or infrastructure being recovered by utilities and rates.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
James Kaufman
“there's concern if the project doesn't happen, there's concern if the project does happen that will somehow be open to cost overruns of the project and we won't be able to contain the cost to the consumer. And I know you don't necessarily have much to do with the total project cost overrun piece of it, But you're right in the middle of trying to assure that you have a reliable supply of gas delivered at the best possible cost.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026
Bert Stedman
“So if we give them, say, $150 million in tax relief, yet they cost us another $110, we only have a margin of $40. That doesn't make good business sense to me from a consumer's perspective.”Alaska Legislature: Senate Finance - June 9, 2026 9:00am · Jun 9, 2026