Video Clips

Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.

0:49

Grier Hopkins

“if Fairbanks had to pay for the spur line, then, you know, we should make sure that Anchorage pays for the Anchorage spur line, which would be everything south of Fairbanks. The joke might fall on deaf ears here, but the reality is if we have to pay for a $200 million line across 3,500 ratepayers in the Fairbanks-North Starborough area that gas would not come in economic for people to use. So that tariff being rolled in statewide, system-wide, in the language that is in there currently, is essential”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:46

Matt Kissinger

“in addition to our developer, you know, ownership of 25% of 8Star Alaska, underneath that, as new investors come into the subsidiaries and equity is issued from those subsidiaries in exchange for capital, we will have the right to participate in that issuance of equity from a minimum of 5% up to 25%”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:30

Grier Hopkins

“Allowing us to have that flexibility with a good sunset on that of 10 years is really important for us to ensure that our impacts get covered as well as the ratepayers see a strong benefit.”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:54

Grier Hopkins

“if we're forced to be taxed under the current language of the full 20 mills, it would add in the neighborhood of $500 per year to each local IGU ratepayer. That language is really important to give us the flexibility in that from that amendment to figure out a payment in lieu of taxes”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:23

Grier Hopkins

“this has been a major concern for us for 12 years. How are we going to get access to the gas once it was routed away from us? And this language that we see in there today is the best thing that we have seen for our community going forward.”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:37

Frank Richards

“we're looking at ways now to potentially— because we know that cash is very tight within the state based on our budgets, that we're looking for ways to use in-kind contributions. And so you saw that there were new regulations coming out from the Department of Natural Resources for materials, in this case gravel, that could be provided to state corporation, meaning AGDC, that could provide to the project and get an equity position from that contribution”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

1:06

Grier Hopkins

“the spur line in this language as it is right now is— it's an eligibility requirement. If the spur line is not being permitted by the developer, by the time that they're getting constructed, they would not get access to the full tax break that is being debated”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:47

Grier Hopkins

“We are currently paying between $24 and $26 per MCF for natural gas for our 3,500 ratepayers in the Interior Gas Utility System.”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

1:01

Matt Kissinger

“Everything that we can needs to be tight, needs to be fiscally certain to the extent that we can make it so, and also needs to be helping us become more and more competitive so that we can get those other investors in and ultimately not be fully diluted in doing so”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:28

Matt Kissinger

“even as 8 Star Alaska gets further and further diluted, we can always maintain our 25% by paying and purchasing it, which is where we would have already been if we were under the earlier models of this project”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:35

Frank Richards

“The option that we're talking about here is— will be provided to the state of Alaska in whole. And what I mean by that is not only to the state legislature, but also to Alaskan corporations and hopefully Alaskans themselves”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:21

Frank Richards

“when that preemptive rights are offered to AGDC, we will then notify the legislature of this opportunity. And then it will be up to the legislature to make that decision if it chooses to invest”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:50

Frank Richards

“the legislative bonding approvals that were granted to AGDC in— under Alaska Statute 3125 is, as Matt described, as revenue bonds. So AGDC does not have the ability to put forward bonds that obligates the State of Alaska for bond payments”

House Finance, 5/28/26, 1:30pm · May 28, 2026

0:30

Will Stapp

“I think it probably would have been helpful to give some sort of structure. What we have before us is a volumetric structure. I think it's totally fine because it helps de-risk the project to capital cost overruns. But I still don't see— I mean, it probably would have been helpful, I think, for members of the committee, for you guys, even though I know you were out doing other things, because I remember those discussions very well, to perhaps at least bring a little bit of a framework to us.”

HFIN-260527-1330 · May 27, 2026

0:21

Matt Kissinger

“we have as AGDC, even prior to Glenfarm coming into the project, we've put out there this assumption of $1.50 and I think we are still confidently within that assumption range.”

HFIN-260527-1330 · May 27, 2026

0:48

Frank Richards

“the original legislation that created AGDC gave AGDC essentially tax-exempt status should we have ownership in the project during construction. And then it was going to fall to the tax structure under 4356 for oil and gas property taxes. Now, the, the concept that is now in front of us with House Bill 381, this alternative volumetric tax, would— is really going to be based on the volumes of gas flowing out of the project.”

HFIN-260527-1330 · May 27, 2026

0:50

Nicholas Fulford

“one of the key challenges for this project when you're probably looking at $30 billion or so of debt, is between now and FID, the people providing that $30 billion have to go through this project with a fine-tooth comb and consider every kind of scenario to make sure their money is safe. So in some ways, if the project can secure $30 billion of debt, then right there, there's a relatively high degree of confidence in the project's ability to go forward.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:43

Jesse Kiehl

“there's an ultimate cap on on what that tariff can be and it's imported LNG. Because the RCA is only ever gonna approve what's reasonable and necessary. And if, you know, the cost overrun example on slide 4 today were to hit an in-state 42-inch pipe with only in-state consumers, I worry that we have a half-built project and no chance of an approved tariff that could pay for the cost overruns.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:46

Bert Stedman

“what's not straightforward is 70% of 45, which is about $30 billion in debt, And a more realistic number, just dealing with some of the cost escalations, uh, is in the neighborhood of $60 billion, maybe over, because from what we understand, that, uh, construction and pipeline construction costs have escalated a little faster than inflation. So it's probably somewhere north of $60, but just using $60, that's a debt increase of $12 billion. $12 Billion is a big cash flow payment to meet in and of itself.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

1:02

Nicholas Fulford

“given the scale of the project, is debt funding. As we've discussed, in a project of this sort, probably be 60, 70% maybe even more, financed on what they call a non-recourse basis. So this would be off balance sheet, so companies would contract with a consortium of banks that would lend the money and would take some degree of risk themselves.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

1:06

Nicholas Fulford

“the current property tax projection up until 2062 would amount to just over $23 billion of revenue, of which about a third would go to the state and about two-thirds goes to local communities along the line and affected host communities. The volumetric tax in— certainly in the original bill set at 6 cents comes to about $2.6 billion.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:45

Lyman Hoffman

“these people are out, you know, are getting some breaks, yet we're sitting here arguing, should we give breaks to building our pipeline in the harshest conditions and, you know, maybe very limited building seasons of time when they have to put that pipeline in the ground.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:47

Nicholas Fulford

“That's a good summary. What I would say is that that remaining 2 mils, from what I understand, And I don't have detailed numbers on this, but from what I understand, through various other tax exemptions and local arrangements, I think most of the rest of that 2 mils disappears as well. So I think you could almost regard Louisiana as being a full property tax holiday for 10 years”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:21

Bert Stedman

“Louisiana, so they basically go from 10 mils down to 2 mils for 10 years roughly, and then there's some fluctuations around there? Is that kind of their basic structure?”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

1:14

Nicholas Fulford

“the property tax rate is 10 mils rather than 20, and there are differences in the way in which the taxable value of the facility is calculated. But you can see there, um, you know, Sabine, which is being expanded, Cameron, Calcasieu, and Plaquemine, they're all existing LNG projects. And you can see there on the chart the value of the property tax concession for those companies is, is quite substantial.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:44

Bert Stedman

“the issue I think that we'll be faced with at some point is a discussion on the state's position being diluted. And the only way you can keep it from being diluted is pony up your portion of the cash, generally speaking.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:37

Bert Stedman

“just assume it's $60 billion, and at 70/30, that's $18 billion in equity. Somebody's got to put down $18 billion in cash. I would expect the guy that comes to the table with $18 billion, the guy with the gold makes the golden rules, is going to want a significant majority of the equity position or he won't put his $18 billion on the table, he'll go somewhere else. Therein lies a dilution problem or a challenge.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:33

Bert Stedman

“I think some of the other committees have used a number of about $12 billion for the in-state gas line, not $10 billion. So that's, you know, a significant increase right there. And then 20-year government bonds plus 3/8 is roughly 5.5 for your interest rate.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:25

Nicholas Fulford

“one of the interesting things that we began to talk about yesterday was capital cost. Obviously it's been a very significant element of the debate over the last few weeks, both within the Senate and the other committees.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:41

Bert Stedman

“we've talked about that 40, mid-40 range cost factor, and some of us believe it's complete nonsense, right? It's an old number that's not relevant, and we'll get into that when we get into our modeling in a couple of days. But if they do the, you know, 70% debt level, there is the government loan guarantees and backing that we need to to get an understanding for over the next several days what that entails. But my understanding from the federal folks that I've talked to, it's if you do 20 years, it's 20 years plus 3/8 on the government bond. If you do 30-year financing, it's 30-year government bonds plus 3/8.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:54

Nicholas Fulford

“if you, if you look at it through a DCF lens, the project is actually making a 30% saving. So instead of a discounted cash flow amounting to $4 billion, it's one that amounts to $2.8 billion.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

1:18

Nicholas Fulford

“if we were to delay any property tax collection until 2036, but but also ensure that that missing tax, for want of a better term, is collected over time, you know, what would that look like?”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:58

James Kaufman

“one of the huge differences is the source of the gas. And so, I mean, there's things that make it such an apples and oranges comparison where I'm sure most of the gas that's being transported in these lines is not coming from state ownership with any kind of royalty or maybe very little.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:38

Nicholas Fulford

“most of this gas would be in private ownership, would be developed, you know, in, in under very commercial terms.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:47

Nicholas Fulford

“the property tax concessions, you could say, were, were roughly halved in, in 2023 as a result of this treatment for school districts.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:45

Nicholas Fulford

“the mechanism in Louisiana is a— well, it's a forgiveness, if you like, of property tax for a period of 10 years, after which the normal rates apply, but there's no there's no recouping of unpaid property tax.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:42

Nicholas Fulford

“if they do achieve Phase 2 FID on a cost of $2.36 billion per MTPA, then that suggests that Alaska potentially has a lot more headroom than previously believed, because if they can invest that and sell LNG profitably into Asia, with a $47 billion equivalent just for the LNG, that suggests that the economics of Alaska might be stronger than previously believed.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:46

Nicholas Fulford

“a fixed revenue such as a volumetric tax or a PILT can work better for local communities because of the planning ability.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:39

Nicholas Fulford

“it's helpful to look at what some of the other states do, particularly in the lower 48 Gulf Coast states like Texas and Louisiana, where obviously there's been a huge amount of LNG development.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

1:16

Nicholas Fulford

“one of the challenges around property tax is that it does not sit happily with this idea of fiscal stability, that, you know, it can be reevaluated, it can be changed, and, you know, it's difficult to plan for.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:43

Nicholas Fulford

“the most significant learning, which we'll perhaps come on to, is that in offering these tax concessions for 10 years, it's kind of recognizing that with these very high capital projects, it is in that first 10 years that the economic boost given to the project by tax forgiveness is the greatest.”

SFIN-260528-0900 · May 28, 2026

0:48

Speaker A

“the use of automated track inspection technologies, which have the capability to identify hundreds of defects compared to visual inspections, Make it possible for railroads to prioritize track maintenance and to deploy their maintenance and repair personnel more efficiently, often resulting in more maintenance job and work for employees, and most importantly, more safety.”

House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026

0:24

Speaker A

“Our committee has an opportunity today to deliver on President Trump's call for stronger rail safety protections and to ensure that the tragedy we witnessed in East Palestine, Ohio, never happens again.”

House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026

0:57

Speaker A

“a key piece of this amendment is the two-man crew mandate. I find it absolutely fascinating that in a world where we have autonomous vehicles, no driver, autonomous trucks with no driver, we have aircraft with no pilot, and here it is, we have the only mode of transportation operating on a rail, and we say we got to have two individuals in the cab to, uh, to prevent something. The fact is there were 3 people in the cab in East Palestine.”

House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026

0:48

Speaker A

“since 2024, the NTSB has been on the scene of 53 rail accidents and incidents that resulted in 17 fatalities and 10 injuries. 27 Investigations are worker-related. In fact, listen, the NTSB has increased its number of rail investigations each year by 33% in 2025 over that of 2024. In 2025 alone— this is a big number, folks— 2025 alone, There was a total of 9,836 rail accidents and incidents, of which there were 969 fatalities and 6,291 injuries.”

House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026

0:39

Speaker A

“As the NTSB Chairwoman Hammoudi said in her letter to urge this committee dated 2 days ago, May 20th, She reinstated the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to address critical rail safety issues, which are included in my bipartisan rail safety amendment before us today.”

House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026

0:38

Speaker A

“In just one year, 22,543 hazardous material incidents on highways and only 297 freight rail hazmat incidents. But let's get that 297 down to zero.”

House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026

0:56

Speaker A

“The Railway Safety Act protects rail workers and communities that railroads travel through, requires the placement of wayside defect detectors, strengthens penalties on railroads for safety violations, and removes older, dangerous tank cars from service sooner.”

House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026

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