The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation met today in Kenai for an update on the state’s progress taking over the gas line project. AGDC president Keith Meyer said the transition should wrap up by the end of the year.
But at the meeting, Meyer fielded some tough questions from the board of directors, including this one from Vice Chairman Hugh Short.
“What do you say to someone who says AGDC, State of Alaska should just hang it up?…That you’re out there spending state resources on a project that’s never going to happen?” Short asked.
Meyer argued the state owes it to its people to take a look at whether it can compete with other LNG projects around the world.
“I’m pretty convinced that if you do nothing on this time frame, this go-around, this next window, you’ve missed it for a number of decades, maybe for longer than that,” said Meyer.
This week, Meyer and Gov. Bill Walker returned from their second trip to Asia in a month. Walker’s travel expenses for that trip were covered by conference organizers while Meyer’s travel expenses were covered by the state. Meyer is traveling to Japan over Thanksgiving to continue marketing the project to government officials and businesses there.
Also at today’s meeting, Meyer reported AGDC is preparing to open an office in Houston, Texas to connect with potential project backers there.
Elizabeth Harball is a reporter with Alaska's Energy Desk, covering Alaska’s oil and gas industry and environmental policy. She is a contributor to the Energy Desk’s Midnight Oil podcast series. Before moving to Alaska in 2016, Harball worked at E&E News in Washington, D.C., where she covered federal and state climate change policy. Originally from Kalispell, Montana, Harball is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
