newsminer.com

It might be a little early for sweeping assessments, but here’s mine.

Two days into the session, lawmakers are already split on the meaning of competition under AGIA, the gas line process the governor proposed last year and lawmakers approved nearly unanimously.

On Tuesday, House Speaker John Harris implied that AGIA lost its key asset — competition among potential builders — when the state narrowed the list of applicants to one after determining four others incomplete. Senate Resources Chair Sen. Charlie Huggins echoed the idea Wednesday.

“The definition of competition — it takes two or more,” he said.

But other lawmakers argue the competitive part of AGIA already happened — and worked — when companies submitted applications under a bidding process. Palin’s administration said before and after applications were submitted that they only needed one good one.

Maybe an auction is a good analogy. There’s a minimum bid price, and while it’s nice to get multiple bidders offering better and better deals, one bidder willing to meet the minimum bid works, too.

But there’s also a question over the meaning of the pipeline. A few lawmakers continue to make the point that a successful pipeline project is more than just pipe and pump stations, but also the willingness of lease holders to commit to using the pipe. The implication here is that the one application the state has, even if it meets all the requirements of AGIA, might not result in a successful pipeline project — that the minimum bid wasn’t high enough.

A third question is over the meaning of the hearings lawmakers are talking about. Harris said he’d like to hear from ConocoPhillips, the Alaska Gasline Port Authority, and maybe others. Huggins said he’s already invited ConocoPhillips to testify, and wants to hear from MidAmerican, BG, and other companies that didn’t submit any proposals at all.

It’s hard to know whether the hearings are about bettering an understanding of project dynamics and global markets, or about ditching the AGIA process and considering other pipeline proposals.