On Feb. 19, the Anchorage Daily News published a compass piece I wrote entitled, "Why do Alaskans pay more for our gas than Japan does?" In the compass piece I pointed out that for virtually all of 2007, Alaskans were paying more for natural gas produced in Cook Inlet than Japanese electric utilities were 3,000 miles away.
That doesn't make sense to me when you factor in the cost of liquefaction, transportation and regasification for gas to get to Japan. I suggested in the Feb. 19 article that we might be entering a period again where Alaskans pay more for their natural gas than Japanese utilities did.
In fact, it's true.
In January 2009 the weighted average price of Alaskan natural gas delivered in Japan was $7.47/MMBTU. That's more than $1.25 cheaper than the price Enstar customers were paying for gas from the same producers. In February, the disparity increased: Japanese electric utilities paid a weighted average of $5.94/MMBTU that's almost three dollars cheaper than Enstar customers were paying for the gas from the same producers.
I'm not arguing the producers should subsidize Anchorage consumers. Far from it. What I am asking for is a clear and public discussion of why Anchorage ratepayers are paying almost 50 percent more than Japanese electric utilities are for gas produced in Cook Inlet.
Until then, I will advocate for contracts that charge Alaskans the same price as Japanese utilities minus the cost of transportation, liquefaction and regasification. For more information: www.MoneganforMayor.com
Walt Monegan is a former Anchorage police chief and Alaska Public Safety commissioner. He is a candidate for the April mayoral election in Anchorage.