capital focus

JUNEAU — State lawmakers are looking again at the prospect of a large hydroelectric dam on the Susitna River, after giving serious consideration to the project in the 1980s.

Sen. Joe Thomas, a Fairbanks Democrat, is sponsoring a bill creating a working group of state officials and stakeholders to gather information on all aspects of the project and make recommendations on construction by next January.

Thomas issued a statement Friday explaining his support for a smaller version of the Susitna project, which he said could supply most of the Railbelt population with “clean, cheap, reliable power.”

Sen. Gary Wilken, a Fairbanks Republican, has expressed support for providing state funds for the project.

A similar bill in the House that would direct the Alaska Energy Authority to study the project, is scheduled for a hearing on Monday.

The bills are HB 336 and SB 246.

Funding BIOS

Wilken said this week that he will encourage members of the Interior delegation to say no to a $100 million state crime lab unless lawmakers also get behind the $113 million biological sciences facility proposed for the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

“If we can build a crime lab, we can build a research facility,” he said.

Palin is proposing to fund the crime lab by issuing general obligation bonds. While Wilken and other Fairbanks lawmakers have sought direct appropriations for BIOS in the past, Wilken said bonds could also work.

Palin expressed reluctance to fund the project when the university system already faces huge costs in deferred maintenance.

Port authority

gets a chance

The Republican majority in the House will begin a series of meetings on gas pipeline proposals this Wednesday. The meetings are open to all lawmakers and to the public, and will begin with a presentation by members of Palin’s gas pipeline team.

TransCanada will present on Feb. 7; ConocoPhillips on Feb. 11; and the Alaska Gasline Port Authority on Feb. 13.

Other companies that applied under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act will also be invited to present, according to a news release from the majority.