Alaska 2025-2026 Regular Session

Alaska Senate Bill SJR11 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	SJR011A -1- SJR 11
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5	5	34-LS0626\N
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11	11	SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 11
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13	13	IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
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15	15	THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
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17	17	BY SENATOR MYERS
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19	19
20	20	Introduced: 2/26/25
21	21	Referred: Transportation
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24	24	A RESOLUTION
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26	26	Urging the United States Congress to enact a Jones Act waiver to facilitate 1
27	27	transportation of domestic liquefied natural gas between ports in the state. 2
28	28	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
29	29	WHEREAS natural gas production in the state primarily comes from two regions: 4
30	30	Cook Inlet and the North Slope; and 5
31	31	WHEREAS, in 2024, 39 percent of the electricity generated in the state was from 6
32	32	natural gas, and nearly half of households in the state use natural gas to heat their homes; and 7
33	33	WHEREAS the Alaska Department of Natural Resources has projected shortfalls in 8
34	34	the Cook Inlet natural gas supply beginning in 2027, and the Southcentral region of the state 9
35	35	is facing a significant natural gas shortage despite exploration efforts by operators; and 10
36	36	WHEREAS Cook Inlet is an aging oil and gas field that is expected to be depleted by 11
37	37	the mid-2030s, requiring significant investment for further production; and 12
38	38	WHEREAS, in February 2024, Anchorage switched much of its electricity generation 13
39	39	from natural gas to significantly more expensive diesel and faced the possibility of natural gas 14
40	40	curtailments resulting from high demand for natural gas outstripping supply; and 15
41	41	WHEREAS Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is heavily dependent on natural gas 16 34-LS0626\N
42	42	SJR 11 -2- SJR011A
43	43	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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45	45	from Cook Inlet, causing national security to be affected by the natural gas shortage; and 1
46	46	WHEREAS Fort Wainwright, Eielson Air Force Base, Fort Greely, and Clear Space 2
47	47	Force Station benefit from electricity produced by natural gas in the Southcentral region of 3
48	48	the state; and 4
49	49	WHEREAS the utility companies in the Southcentral region of the state are 5
50	50	considering liquefied natural gas imports in the near future to solve the crisis; and 6
51	51	WHEREAS the natural gas supply within the North Slope is approximately 7
52	52	35,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and 200,000,000,000,000 cubic 8
53	53	feet of potential natural gas resources that could lead to long-term viability of selling North 9
54	54	Slope natural gas resources on a commercial scale; and 10
55	55	WHEREAS a natural gas liquefaction plant is already being constructed on the North 11
56	56	Slope for trucking natural gas to the Interior region of the state; and 12
57	57	WHEREAS trucking natural gas from the North Slope to the Southcentral region of 13
58	58	the state is uneconomical in the quantities needed; and 14
59	59	WHEREAS the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope natural 15
60	60	gas fields would bring natural gas to both the Interior and Southcentral regions of the state, 16
61	61	providing both energy stability and lower costs; and 17
62	62	WHEREAS the economic costs of a natural gas pipeline have delayed construction 18
63	63	for almost five decades, and construction of a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to the 19
64	64	Southcentral region of the state would not be completed until at least 2031, long after 20
65	65	shortfalls are predicted to begin in 2027; and 21
66	66	WHEREAS 46 U.S.C. 55102, originally enacted by the Merchant Marine Act of 22
67	67	1920, commonly known as the Jones Act, mandates that any vessel transporting cargo 23
68	68	between United States ports be built in the United States, owned by United States citizens, 24
69	69	and crewed mostly by United States citizens; and 25
70	70	WHEREAS, currently, there are no Jones Act-compliant natural gas tanker vessels 26
71	71	available to transport natural gas between ports in the state; and 27
72	72	WHEREAS the Jones Act limits domestic imports of critical goods like liquefied 28
73	73	natural gas between domestic ports, prohibiting the state from
74	74	transporting its own natural gas 29
75	75	from the gas fields on the North Slope to the largest population centers of the Southcentral 30
76	76	region of the state; and 31 34-LS0626\N
77	77	SJR011A -3- SJR 11
78	78	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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80	80	WHEREAS the United States is the largest liquefied natural gas exporter in the 1
81	81	world, but the state is effectively prohibited from transporting domestic liquefied natural gas 2
82	82	to the state from other ports in the United States because of the Jones Act; and 3
83	83	WHEREAS waivers to the Jones Act were granted for transportation of natural gas 4
84	84	and petroleum following hurricanes in 2005, 2012, and 2017; and 5
85	85	WHEREAS, in 2006, a waiver to the Jones Act was granted to tow a jack-up oil 6
86	86	drilling rig from the Gulf of Mexico to the state for drilling in the Cook Inlet; and 7
87	87	WHEREAS shipping liquefied natural gas in small containers could lower energy 8
88	88	costs for many of the state's coastal communities that are currently shipping in expensive 9
89	89	diesel for electricity generation and other energy needs; and 10
90	90	WHEREAS the sustainable development of the state's rich energy resources will 11
91	91	contribute to domestic energy security and economic prosperity, both in the state and 12
92	92	throughout the United States; 13
93	93	BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the United 14
94	94	States Congress to recognize the imminent and acute need to stabilize the state's energy 15
95	95	supply and enact a Jones Act waiver that facilitates the urgent transportation of domestic 16
96	96	liquefied natural gas between ports in the state until Jones Act-compliant vessels are 17
97	97	available. 18
98	98	COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President 19
99	99	of the United States; the Honorable JD Vance, Vice President of the United States and 20
100	100	President of the Senate, the Honorable Sean Duffy, United States Secretary of Transportation; 21
101	101	and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the 22
102	102	Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in 23
103	103	Congress. 24