BRADNERS' ALASKA LEGISLATIVE DIGEST

Oct. 29, 2018 In this Issue: Governor’s race – stakes are high: Republican Dunleavy said to have edge Broadband consumer costs in rural Alaska could be cut: Plan for new Alaska telecom satellite; contracts near Permanent Fund dividends hit the streets: $940 million roll into bank accounts; cash registers jingle Timber:Mat-Su timber project on hold; China flap is blamed Economy:Here are the numbers for Alaskans’ annual fall rite: Moose hunting Transportation:Maersk finished Arctic test runRavn owners buy PenAirCoal exports from Adak?…

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Permit work to start on Arctic Trilogy Metals Inc. is now engaged in pre-permitting work on its planned Arctic project, which is mainly copper, with work on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for development set to begin early next year, company officials told business leaders in Anchorage in early October. On a parallel track, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is working on plans for an 311-mile access road to the Ambler Mining District from the Dalton Highway, with the…

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Work on GMT-2 starts this winter ConocoPhillips approved construction of the GMT-2 project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved its Record of Decision for the project. Construction will start this winter. The plan is for a 14-acre drill pad supporting up to 48 wells, an 8.2 mile road and an 8.6 mile pipeline. The road and pipeline connect with GMT-1 and the CD-5 production site further east, and ultimately the Alpine field on…

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State fisheries board turns down request to curtail hatcheries The state Board of Fisheries denied a request Oct. 16 by sport fishing groups to rollback hatchery releases of salmon fry statewide and approved an expansion for Valdez Fisheries Development Corp., operator of the Solomon Gulch hatchery in Prince William Sound. Sports groups argued that increasing numbers of hatchery-released fish are competing with wild salmon for food in the ocean. Commercial fish groups argued the science is uncertain, and hatcheries are…

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Permanent Fund will set allocation for in-state investment The Alaska Permanent Fund will allocate up to $200 million in a special fund for Alaskan investments and hire a special manager to manage the program, Fund managers said. Under guidelines set by the Board of Trustees the investments will have to be capable of earning what the funds would have returned if invested out of state. The goal is to also attract other investors to join the Fund in projects, to…

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GCI hit with cut to federal support General Communications Inc., a major Alaska telecom provider, will see federal payments to support rural health internet service of $77.8 million next year, or $28 million less than the company requested to cover its costs. The new rate finding follows a proceeding involving support payments under the Federal Communication Commission’s Rural Health Care program where the FCC paid subsidies to Alaska telecom operators to cover cost differential between internet service to rural health…

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Electricity consumption dropping Energy Consumer use of electricity is dropping due to wider adoption of energy conservation practices. Chugach Electric Association said usage of electricity per residential member has dropped 14 percent since 2004. While weather and the trend toward warmer winters accounts for some of this, the primary driver is energy efficiency. While this has the effect of reducing natural gas demand, and conserving regional gas supplies, it increases the percentage of renewable energy from hydro and wind in…

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Maersk finished Arctic test run The container shipper Maersk Line has completed a test voyage across Russia’s Northern Sea Route, or NSR, with its Venta Maersk, one of its smaller container ships (3,600 container capacity). The voyage was a test run to assess the idea of Arctic shipping, and not intended to be a start of regular service, Maersk said. Some competitors like China’s Cosco has sent about a dozen general cargo ships across NSR but not a container ship….

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Here are the numbers for Alaskans’ annual fall rite: Moose hunting The fall moose hunt is a time-honored Alaska tradition, but how much meat does the annual rite put in the freezer? And how much money is spent? Ned Rozell, science writer at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute, cites studies showing that 29,000 Alaskans and nonresidents harvest about 7,200 moose yearly, and assuming each of these 1,600-pound animals yields 700 pounds of sliced and wrapped meat, totaling about…

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Mat-Su timber project on hold; China flap is blamed A promising project to harvest mainly damaged timber in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is on hold because of the U.S.-China trade spat, officials with the timber company have told the borough. The problem is the tariff that China would impose on timber imported from Alaska, which is a response to tariffs on Chinese imports ordered by President Donald Trump. Borough officials had hoped the project would bring in about $900,000 a year…

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