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I am the Senior Project Engineer for the OFC and presented at the largest geospatial technology event for federal agencies, the Federal ESRI conference on February 19th. The session was Geoenabling Web Applications to Support Open Government and my presentation can be found here (PDF). As government strives to deliver greater transparency to the public, its web applications continue to incorporate more spatial intelligence. I focused on how GIS and geographic services bring richer, dynamic, and more collaborative mapping to government websites.

For years, Alaskans have discussed the need for better mapping and many of our project agencies identified a need for a single reference system for information collection. There is not a consistent, standard set of maps detailing the pipeline route in Alaska. Each state and federal agency has data pertinent to their mission; however, sharing that data and incorporation it into one authoritative basemap is instrumental to expedite permitting. We selected a 20-mile stretch of the pipeline route at Atigun pass as our prototype. We then used LiDAR for our basemap and flew the 20-mile stretch in the fall of 2009. With LiDAR we can detect geohazards, wetlands, conduct stream mapping, and ensure the engineering design meets specifications for frost-heave and permafrost construction.

Our goal is to demonstrate that the prototype is an authoritative, consistent, and integrated source of information that can be used by all parties to permit, design, construct, operate, and maintain a gas pipeline. The prototype has two separate platforms. An ArcGIS platform that the agencies will have access to and can layer their information on, and a public web platform that will provide public transparency to the project enabling more informed public comments and a value added database that can incorporate historical data.

The public transparency piece of the prototype is key and provides valuable information and visualizing to the communities and native tribes. The agency web service application provides an authoritative basemap and allows stakeholders to insert their layers and manipulate the data. This project is different in regards to multiple agency collaboration and therefore efficiency to expedite the project. Our next step is to acquire additional agency inputs and develop a data integration plan.

The OFC also participated in the Alaska Forum on the Environment (AFE) in Anchorage the week of February 8. AFE hosted over 1,700 attendees from diverse backgrounds including environmental professionals from government agencies, non-profit and for-profit businesses, community leaders, Alaskan youth, conservationists, biologists and community elders. The OFC hosted a booth at the AFE where we had access through the web to our prototype GIS for AFE attendees to try out the system. I also presented it to the group on February 9 and my presentation can be found here (PDF).

I had the opportunity to attend the winter committee meetings of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners this week in Washington, D.C. There were three full days of committee meetings on natural gas. Sunday set the stage for the week as there was much interest on recent studies related the abundance of natural gas in the United States. Much of the focus over the past year has been on shale formations and the assessment released by the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) in 2009. The assessment found that the United States possesses a total natural gas resource base of 1,836 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) and a total available future supply of 2,074 Tcf-the highest resources evaluation in the PGC's 44-year history, equaling about 100 years of supply. Americans consume an average of 22 Tcf per year.

It did not take long for the question to arise that with all this new natural gas available is there a need for an Alaska natural gas pipeline? The answer during Sunday's Subcommittee on Gas discussion was an unequivocal yes! Natural gas is the cleanest source of all hydrocarbons. With many of the nation's coal facilities 25 years of age and older, natural gas is the preferred future energy source for electric power generation. Moreover, municipalities throughout the country are looking to power their automobile fleets with clean burning natural gas. The message is clear; we need all the natural gas we can domestically produce to ensure the energy security of the United States. Finally, no matter what committee was in session-all roads led to job creation and the natural gas industry is part of the solution not the problem.

On Tuesday, the Committee on International Relations and Committee on Gas joined together to discuss natural gas as it relates to the United States and Canada. The panel discussion was chaired by the Honorable Gaetan Caron, Chairman and CEO of Canada's National Energy Board; and included panelists Bob Pickett, Chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska; Jon-Paul Therot, Chairman of the Quebec Energy Board; and Phil Moeller, Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. I must make the qualifying statement that the government officials from the United States and Canada were not speaking or otherwise representing the official positions of their respective boards, commissions and agencies.

It was an excellent panel discussion. FERC Commissioner Phil Moeller articulated that an Alaska natural gas pipeline is needed. He stated that regardless of what people think about natural gas it will become part of the electricity generation mix. Mr. Moeller even addressed the estimated price tag of the gasline that is approaching $40 billion. He did this by recalling his trip to Alaska's North Slope in the summer of 2008. During a break while visiting various facilities in Deadhorse, he and his colleagues sketched out a "back-of-the-envelope" calculation on the natural gas that is basically being produced but re-injected back into the reservoirs. They figured based on market prices at the time that Alaska producers were re-injecting nearly $35 billion per year back into the reservoirs every year.

Alaska's Bob Picket started off his presentation with a simple but resounding, "Alaska gas is good." He focused his comments on two main points: (1) our relationship with Canada is something the United States should not take for granted; and (2) unconventional gas is not a killer of an Alaska natural gas pipeline. His opinion was that Canada and the United States are the best of trading partners and energy is a key factor in the relationship. If it were not for Canada, the United States would be at the complete mercy of overseas nations for our vital energy supplies. Canada is #1 when it comes to working with the United States. On the same token, it was pointed out that the United States, with its increased domestic production of natural gas, is increasingly exporting more gas to Canada each year. The relationship between the two nations is invaluable. When it came to the discussion of natural gas, whether related to unconventional gas plays or the Alaska natural gas pipeline, Mr. Pickett, was firm, "The natural gas industry creates jobs; it is the cleanest of all hydrocarbons; the gas is domestically produced; it is integral to our energy and economic security; and we need to utilize it more." The loud and clear message delivered by Chairman Picket was, "It is time to stop treating natural gas as an orphan and stop leaving natural gas out of the policy discussions in the United States."

Alaska's natural gas is good!

This week OFC's Environmental Engineer Christa Gunn and I participated in the 2010 Pipe Tech Americas Summit in Houston, Texas.  It was well attended and included an overview on the massive cross-border Keystone pipeline project; emergency repair systems; risk based management; and horizontal directional and environmental air drilling.

As OFC's Director of Permitting, Scheduling & Compliance I was part of a panel discussion on the current challenges facing the pipeline industry.  The panel was moderated by Michael Felt of Universal Ensco and included Joe Paviglianiti of Canada's National Energy Board and Jerry Rau of Panhandle Energy Company. 

Jobs, jobs and more jobs was the focus of the panel's discussion.  I noted that the Alaska natural gas pipeline would be the largest privately financed construction project in the history of North America, creating tens of thousands of jobs over its lifecycle.  I summarized the two mainline natural gas pipeline projects, Alaska Pipeline Project (TransCanada-ExxonMobil) and Denali (BP-ConocoPhillips) and then focused on the recurring theme during the panel discussion: personnel, succession plans for an aging workforce and training.  I explained that Alaska has built a 52-acre pipeline training yard in South Fairbanks. The Fairbanks field site offers an environment that replicates the actual pipelines right-of-way, complete with frigid temperature workspaces, mechanized welding operations, heavy equipment operation, ditching, stringing and other associated pipeline construction machinery. The training facility is focused on training a new and rejuvenated workforce for the Arctic energy industry.

A recent announcement by Progress Energy that it will be decommissioning eleven coal plants by 2017 leaves room for more reliance on clean natural gas, pipeline infrastructure and job creation.  Moreover, with a recent INGAA Foundation report finding that $120-130 billion will be invested over the next 20 years in infrastructure in the natural gas industry, including pipeline construction and connecting arctic resources to support growth in the electric generation and industrial sectors-Alaska's natural gas pipeline projects were front and center.

Earlier this week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held a public workshop on the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation project Open Season.  Over 100 individuals attended from various private industry groups and state and federal agencies.  Richard Foley and Todd Ruhkamp, FERC Washington DC staff, provided details on the project history, ANGPA, the Open Season process and goals, as well as how to provide electronic comments.  The goal of the Open Season is to promote competition in the exploration, development, and production of Alaska natural gas.  The Open Season process is flexible to allow project sponsors to market the project, yet allow for fair competition among prospective shippers.

The Open Season is held a minimum of 90 days, bids are evaluated, winners announced and precedent agreements (PA) negotiated.  PA's are a sensitive yet key step to the Open Season process where the project applicants and shippers agree on conditions.   FERC provided an example of the Ruby pipeline where it took approximately 2 years to sign the PA's.  Some conditions include options for carbon/greenhouse taxes, anchor PA's are approved by the state Commission, and creditworthiness requirements are satisfied.  Another noteworthy point is no bid can be rejected solely because a bidder has a bid pending in another Open Season.

A question from the audience was: will FERC accept comments after the 60 day window?  FERC would like to see comments prior so they can ensure they meet there timeline and that is one of the reasons they are providing workshops now to ensure the public is familiar with the electronic commenting process.  The workshop included a detailed explanation of the navigation of FERC's various electronic forms of information and communication.  Mailed comments will also be accepted and incorporated into the electronic database.

The FERC was asked to clarify how the process will work for the APP project since it is offering a LNG option.  FERC indicated that APP will provide two separate packages allowing for shippers to bid on both options.  The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process is separate from the Open Season process however the project description is similar to resource report one, required in the NEPA process.

For those interested in Open Season, here are the FERC points of contact:

Denali and APP filings with FERC are available for review in FERC's Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's website at http://www.ferc.gov using the "e-Library" link http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp.  Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document, TransCanada (APP) Docket No. PF09-11-000 and Denali Pipeline Project Docket No. PF08-26-000.  Also, FERC has a general Alaska page, http://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/indus-act/angtp.asp, which includes a FERC Open Season Fact Sheet.

For assistance, contact FERC at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.  Richard Foley, regulatory gas utility specialist, Office of Energy Projects, Division of Pipeline Certificates, also can assist with questions. He can be reached at (202) 502-8955 or via email at richard.foley@ferc.gov.

Note: If proceeding(s) are protested, FERC Staff cannot discuss the case except to direct persons to the website.

Last month, I gave a presentation on challenges related to moving energy in the arctic, including moving arctic natural gas to North American markets, at a U.S. government High North Conference hosted by the U.S. European Command.

Experts discussed emerging arctic issues ranging from climate change to increased shipping, from seabed resources to international engagement, from research to strategic public diplomacy. Given my background with the Coast Guard, the Department of Transportation and now Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, I was asked to address challenges related to the safe and environmentally secure delivery of energy resources.

As Alaska residents appreciate, the arctic is an amazing and complex ecosystem with unique characteristics and extensive natural resources. Although it seems obvious, its defining, but not always appreciated, characteristics include extreme cold and seasonal darkness not experienced by most on our planet. At 40 below, Fahrenheit and Centigrade temperature scales register the same, and 40 degrees below F/C poses unique challenges to any activity. Other fundamental challenges include vast distances, storms that dominate any operation, limited port, airport/ telecommunications/road infrastructure and brief summers. All add enormous costs. The arctic also is an ocean undergoing significant change. Sea ice has been diminishing and marine life is changing.
These factors, and the enduring concerns of indigenous people who have lived successfully in the arctic for thousands of years, affect arctic development and transportation.

Energy development in the U.S. arctic is not new. For 40 years, challenges have been met, and technology for exploration, development and transportation has steadily improved. For a natural gas pipeline, discontinuous permafrost and seismic pose particular challenges, but do not appear insurmountable.

By virtue of Alaska’s place on the globe, America is an arctic nation with broad, fundamental interests in the region. National security, economic development, environmental and natural resource issues, and resident indigenous people make the capability to anticipate and address the benefits and consequences of arctic activities essential. And, the proximity of other arctic nations makes close and forward-looking international cooperation imperative, whether the issue is natural gas or anything else.
 

It’s been an exceptional honor to be the first federal coordinator for the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects. I am extremely proud of what the Office of the Federal Coordinator [OFC] has accomplished: a secure budget, a great staff, an unqualified annual audit and a solid strategic plan.

I was sworn in 36 months ago and since that time I have put together a dedicated group of 10 people who work in our Washington, DC headquarters and our Anchorage, Alaska field office. They are extremely talented, fully engaged and dedicated to a single mission — to advance our nation’s energy, economic and environmental security by expediting the delivery of clean natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska to North American markets.

The OFC coordinates and expedites the work of more than 24 federal agencies with roles in the permitting, licensing and certificating the natural gas pipeline. In addition, I’ve actively engaged the Canadian government, the State of Alaska and all stakeholders, from Alaska Natives to the conservation community to the unions.

My objective has always been that we be collectively prepared to deal with the competing applicants as they come forward with their projects.

I want to thank the men and women in federal service, especially the career "feds", for their enthusiasm and hard work as they define their roles and responsibilities and engage one another, the proponents and other stakeholders. I have an enormous amount of respect for my federal colleagues – they really are “here to help!”

The State of Alaska and the legislature are key to the success of the project. Communication between the OFC and the state is critical. We’ve had great support from all sectors, and I applaud Alaskans for their deep desire to make the pipeline happen.

I also cannot overemphasize the incredible response we’ve received from our Canadian counterparts. I have met with Ministers Prentice and Raitt, Canadian senators, heads of the federal permitting agencies [NRCan, NEB, NPA, MPMO and CEAA], leaders from the affected territories and provinces and members of the Alaska Highway Aboriginal Pipeline Coalition. Canadians are engaged and enthusiastic about the economic benefits that the pipeline will bring to North America.

A word about the applicants is in order. Both the ConocoPhillips / BP joint venture, known as Denali – the Alaska Gas Pipeline (Denali), and the TransCanada/ExxonMobil partnership, known as the Alaska Pipeline Project (APP), are world class operations with exceptional talent dedicated to building the pipeline. I want to personally thank the teams of APP and Denali for their enthusiasm, professionalism and communicative way of doing business. I’ve known some of the Denali and APP players for years, others are new friends, and to a person, they are part of truly outstanding organizations.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Alaskans for allowing me to work for you every day for the past 25 years. Every day has been an adventure. Know that I won’t stop now – my passion for our state, our country and this project isn’t diminished. I look forward to the next chapter and adventure.

Dave Holt, president of the Consumer Energy Alliance, recently said: “The road to energy security is through Alaska.” Let me expand on that... The roads to energy security, economic security and domestic homeland security for America all run through Alaska.

I look forward to working with Alaskans so that together we can ensure that our place as the busiest intersection of those roads is protected. The Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline is the project that will forge our legacy.

The Alaska gas pipeline project was very much part of the discussion mix today when the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee convened to hear the opinions from a wide array of experts on the role of natural gas in mitigating climate change.  Witnesses from BP, TransCanada, Xcel Energy, Calpine, Energy Information Administration (EIA) and Dow Chemical all testified. The conversation varied from the projection of natural gas supplies, volatility of the natural gas market to the implications of unconventional fuel sources such as shale on other resources like coal. 

BP and TransCanada discussed the need for Alaska’s natural gas and emphasized that the natural gas market was big enough for all the new shale gas and Alaska’s gas. Their statements sounded a lot like those of Rod Lowman’s from America’s Natural Gas Alliance two weeks ago.  During question-and-answer session, Senator Lisa Murkowski [R-AK] asked them again about Alaska’s natural gas.  Both TransCanada and BP agreed that Alaska’s gas is a supply component for the North American market and would help keep prices level in the future.  TransCanada also emphasized that the natural gas industry has increased infrastructure in recent years.  Having a transportation system to get natural gas to the markets will play an important role in stabilizing gas prices.

Finally, they talked about the potential effects of influx levels of natural gas on manufacturing and jobs.  It was a great discussion.  You can read the witness statements and listen to the hearing here.

Jennifer Thompson
Director of Communications and Policy Support
Office of the Federal Coordinator Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects

The Office of the Federal Coordinator plans to develop a Google-like prototype that will assimilate data from a variety of sources in order to create one geospatial data source for federal agencies, the State of Alaska and stakeholders to use when studying the proposed route of an Alaska natural gas pipeline.

Recent activities also include meetings between the OFC and Canadian authorities, and the completion of a first phase Consolidated Implementation Plan about Denali – The Alaska Gas Pipeline.

August has been one of the busiest months in Alaska for VIP visits that anyone can remember. The state draws nearly a million visitors every summer who come to see Mount McKinley, the glaciers, wildlife and the national parks, all great reasons to visit. But mingling with the tourists this month were members of Congress and administrators from federal agencies and White House directors who wanted to learn more about the effects of arctic warming, the route of the proposed natural gas pipeline and other environmental and economic issues.

We were a major part of the action in hosting eight White House and federal agency officials on a trip in mid-August. Our job was to teach them everything we could in three days about the natural gas pipeline.

We gathered in Anchorage with our federal agency guests – from the White House were Rachael Walsh, Director for Energy Security/National Security Council and Horst Greczmiel, Associate Director for NEPA Oversight for the Council on Environmental Quality; from the federal agencies we hosted Cindy Douglass, Acting Deputy Administrator for US Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Mike Gillenwater, Policy and Plans Branch Chief in the Pipeline Security Division of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Reid Nelson, Director, Office of Federal Agency Programs to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and Chip Smith, Assistant for Environment, Tribal & Regulatory Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Defense Army/Civil Works; and, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the trip included William James, Acting Deputy Chief, Regulatory Community of Practice and Col. Reinhard W. Koenig, Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District.

Joining the group and the OFC staff were staffers from each office of Alaska's congressional delegation, the Dept. of Interior's State-Federal Joint Pipeline Office, officials from EPA along with state geologists and the head of the state's historic preservation office.

The OFC's job is to expedite the permitting and construction of the Alaska natural gas pipeline by coordinating the efforts of all federal agencies involved in the pipeline's construction, and to make sure that they, and the public, have accurate information about it. So we put the group through a full day of briefings in Anchorage by most of the stakeholders. There were panel presentations by Native and environmental groups, briefings on workforce and infrastructure development and project updates by the two pipeline applicant companies – TransCanada and Denali.

On day two, the group headed north to spend two days on the North Slope. The smoke from Interior fires cleared just in time for them to see everything as they flew over the pipeline route before returning to Anchorage and on to Washington, DC.

The OFC trip wasn't the only one happening this month. Four cabinet secretaries visited rural Alaska to learn more about climate change and rural issues; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sponsored a trip to the North Slope that included OFC staff; there was an Arctic Observance tour by NOAA, Dept. of the Interior, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, Nancy Sutley, the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant and other senior White House officials came to study coastal erosion and the oceans as a first step in establishing comprehensive ocean policy; and, the Environmental Protection Agency hosted a trip at the beginning of August to tour the pipeline route that also included OFC staff.

It's kind of like Alaska's own information pipeline running from the arctic to Washington, DC in preparation for relevant federal legislation as well as the natural gas pipeline.

Getting a natural gas pipeline built is a priority of the Obama Administration because it is critical to America's energy security and because it will create thousands of new jobs throughout the country.

It is a worthy task that requires the involvement and hard work by many stakeholders from federal, state, Canadian and private interests. That's why the visits that Alaska enjoyed this summer are so important. Nearly every federal staffer, under secretary, secretary, White House executive or member of congress will never forget what they saw, what they learned and who they met. Ultimately, these trips help bring about a much better understanding of arctic and energy issues as only Alaska can showcase.