Fairbanks, AK - Fairbanks Natural Gas is in preliminary discussions with the Alaska Attorney General’s office to become a fully regulated utility. FNG received an exemption from the Regulatory Commission in 2003. It was revisited in 2008 and 2009. Company President and CEO Dan Britton says oversight by the RCA is aimed at helping the utility expand its local operation.
"We see that there’s a potential opportunity for state involvement in a solution to Fairbanks energy needs and we feel that having the full rate regulation puts people at a higher level of comfort with that,” he says.
FNG has been in business in Fairbanks since 1998, trucking in gas from Cook Inlet. The company currently serves eleven-hundred residential and commercial customers, but is pursuing a plan to truck in North Slope gas and expand local service. Britton says RCA regulation shouldn’t impact the rates customers pay.
"Even during very high oil prices, we have kept our rates stable and we don’t think there will be a major shift even under rate regulation."
Britton says a plan under discussion between the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole, and the North Star Borough to develop a natural gas utility, played into the decision to consider regulation.
Britton was among participants in a joint North Pole- Fairbanks city council work session this week on the proposed municipal gas distribution utility. Britton doesn’t anticipate the negotiations with RCA will be complicated. He expects a resolution between FNG and the Attorney General’s office within the next three months.
This story had help from KUAC's Dan Bross.