For 30 years, Alaska's North Slope and the Kenai Peninsula have been significant sources of energy export. In that same period, energy loads in Alaska have grown significantly. Due to the dispersed nature of Alaska's loads, the state has necessarily been an innovator in distributed generation.

Alaska is at several crossroads. Should it begin the importation of LNG to serve the railbelt utilities, or should some of the North Slope gas be used to serve the railbelt and perhaps enhance the area's ability to export LNG? What will the impact of new gas storage projects be on the deliverability problems in the Cook Inlet?  In the face of historically high natural gas prices, will the producers, a state agency or Canadian or domestic pipelines be able to build the Alaska portion of the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, or some variation of that system envisioned by the United States and Canada nearly 30 years ago?  And will the development of coal gasification and other techniques reduce the environmental effects of burning coal and encourage more coalfield development in Alaska?  Will Alaska follow the national model and see the merger of electric utilities that seek to take advantage of economies of scale?

This conference will address these and other questions facing Alaska, and by extension, the portions of the United States that might look to Alaska to help meet the growing domestic demand for energy.

Tom Roberts will be speaking on the Update on Federal Energy Policy at this conference.  Click here for more information about the conference.