11-2-12 - Alaska Economist Publishes Trans Alaska Pipeline Property Tax Analysis: "Double Taxation"

Calgary Herald by Kelly Cryderman.  The public is still in the dark when it comes to the progress made and dollars spent on Alberta’s homegrown strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions....

Alaska is engaging in double taxation of the Trans Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) via a property tax that causes assets to be depreciated more than once.  In an analysis now appearing in the Journal of Legal Issues and Cases in Business, well known Alaska Economist Roger Marks (NGP Photo) noted that the current TAPS property tax burden results from a 2005 change in assessment methodology from an income to a cost approach.  The cost approach produces a calculation of TAPS value based on "replacement cost"....(Read the analysis.)  -dh

Alaska Dispatch by Suzanna Caldwell.  Despite reports that Cook Inlet may be awash in natural gas, leading to a surge of interest by smaller oil-and-gas companies, utilities are now looking elsewhere to ensure supply meets Southcentral Alaska’s growing demand in the face of aging fields whose output has dwindled precipitously. As a result, the state with the biggest supply of natural gas of any in the union will, within two years, find itself importing the very quantity of gas it has for decades intended to ship overseas or to the Lower 48 to secure its economic future.

Peninsula Clarion Op-Ed by Cathy Giessel (NGP Photo).  We urge our readers to review this Commentary by a person we regard as one of the most exceptional individuals to have ever served in the Alaska State Senate.  -dh

Commonwealth North's (CWN) Energy Action Coalition will meet Today in Anchorage with Colleen Starring (NG Photo), President, ENSTAR, who will speak about the CINGSA project status and the benefits to the utility customers that will be realized this winter.  The goal of this group is to continue discussion on CWN's most recent energy reports Energy for a Sustainable Alaska: The Railbelt Predicament &The Rural Conundrum and highlight and identify challenges and opportunities in Alaska's energy environment in order to bring informed Alaskans to the table and come to solutions that will benefit all Alaskans and ensure these complex energy issues are understood. If you would like to be added to this distribution list please contact Joshua Wilson (NGP Photo) at:

 

Upcoming Energy Action Coalition Meetings 
• November 2 - Colleen Starring, President, ENSTAR
• November 9 - Larry Persily, Federal Coordinator, Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects
• December 7 - John Barnes, Senior Vice President, Exploration & Production, Hilcorp Alaska, LLC
• December 14 - Lisa Parker, Government Relations Manager, Apache 

Commentary: Yesterday, you read here first the combined position on the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska issued by the North Slope Borough (NSB) and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.  We mention it again today, adding our appreciation to NSB Mayor's Special Assistant David (DJ) Fauske (NGP Photo).  We are confident that the statement is not only the most concise, balanced and decisive energy policy comment from Arctic leaders in recent decades, but that it is also a courageous act of leadership benefitting NSB residents and all Alaska citizens.   -dh