BRADNERS' ALASKA LEGISLATIVE DIGEST

New satellite contract is signed Anchorage-based Pacific Dataport signed a contract with space technology company Astranis to launch a geostationary satellite dedicated to Alaska. This would replace the aging Aurora 4 satellite, and would also have advanced capabilities. Pacific Dataport would serve existing customers and be able to offer Internet and broadband service to all parts of Alaska at much lower costs than with the existing terrestrial-based service, the company said. The launch will be in 2020.

Emmonak dock to be completed Emmonak will receive a $23 million federal transportation grant to complete a long-planned dock in the Southwest Alaska coastal community. The grant will fund a permanent dock and barge landing ramp as well as renovation of a 3.5-mile service road. Alaska congressional leaders announce the grant Dec. 7. Emmonak leaders have pushed for completion of the facility for years. Design and engineering, and delivery of some materials, was funded with state capital funds. The dock…

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Payment problems for nonprofits There are continuing problems for Alaska Native health care nonprofits not being paid for costs related to services offered by the federal Indian Health Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Cook Inlet Tribal Council, which offers substance-abuse treatment, is suing the government to collect overdue payments and won a round in court when a federal judge ruled the denial of payment for overhead expenses is contrary to law. CITC says it is allowed only $12,000 annually…

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Juneau’s AEL&P to remain U.S. Juneau’s Alaska Electric Light and Power will remain U.S.-owned, at least for now. Washington state regulators turned down a proposed $5.3 billion sale of AEL&P’s owner, Spokane-based Avista, to Canada’s Hydro One Ltd., which is based in Toronto. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission ruled that Hydro One has not demonstrated sufficient independence and protection from political influence from its former owner and now 47 percent shareholder, the Ontario provincial government. Delay for Tacoma LNG…

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Earthquake refocuses attention on building standards A 7.0-magnitude earthquake in the Anchorage, MatSu region Nov. 30 caused more damage than first believed. There was widespread, mostly small-scale damage to residential buildings but substantial damage to schools and some commercial buildings in the MatSu Borough. Most damage to buildings was in areas like Mat-Su that are not covered by municipal building codes. There is no estimate yet published of repair costs for schools and the expectation is that the Mat-Su Borough…

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Alaskans have been heartened by discovery of more oil on the North Slope but new projects now planned in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska will wind up costing the state about $250 million a year for the first eight years projects are producing and $1.8 billion over the first 10 years. This is according to an analysis by the state Departments of Revenue and Natural Resources given to state legislative committees Dec. 2. The loss occurs because of the structure of…

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Petersburg Ocean Beauty plant Ocean Beauty Seafoods has put its Petersburg cannery and bunkhouse up for sale and is asking $3.39 million. The property covers 3.25 acres and includes a production area, machine shop and storage areas totaling 65,678 square feet including the bunkhouse. The bunkhouse alone is 13,196 square feet. There is also 2,400 linear feet of waterfront access. The company said it will continue to have an office and local staff in Petersburg to support fishing vessels.  Fishermen…

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Tongass plan by Forest Service  The U.S. Forest Service released a draft timber plan for the Tongass National Forest calling for 225 million board feet of timber on Prince of Wales Island including old growth forest to be harvested over 15 years, a reversal of a 2016 policy phasing out cuts of old growth.

Teck bullish on new zinc prospect   Teck Resources is very bullish about its Aktigiruq prospect in northwest Alaska, on state lands about seven miles north of the existing Red Dog lead-zinc mine operated by Teck. Company officials called it “one of the best undeveloped zinc prospects in the world,” in a briefing at the Alaska Miners Association annual conference, held in Anchorage last week. Red Dog is already one of the world’s largest zinc mines. Unlike Red Dog, Aktigiruq is…

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Moose Pad startup in January Hilcorp Alaska said it will start production at its new Moose Pad project in the Milne Point field in January, on schedule, and that an oil process plant at the site is now 85 percent complete. Moose Pad will eventually produce 85,000 barrels per day. In the short term the company said Milne Point output, which has required a $400 million investment, will increase from 23,000 barrels per day now to 24,000 to 26,000 by…

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