Too many residents, business owners and politicians of Southcentral Alaska — we’re talking the state’s population center of Anchorage, the Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula — are all agog in anticipation that a multibillion-dollar North Slope natural gas pipeline will save them from unaffordable heating and electric bills.

It’s the time of year for holiday dreams — a warm tradition like Hallmark movies, grandma’s cookies and the Budweiser Clydesdales. But the wintry cold truth about this dream is that there will be no pipeline under the tree — just bits of tinsel left over from premature and misleading celebrations.

The megaproject is too costly and too risky in a world that has plenty of easier and cheaper gas to sell. It has uncertain construction costs, with public estimates ranging from roughly $40 to $44 billion; no binding long-term customer contracts to provide collateral for loans; no binding financial commitments from investors; and actually no gas under firm contract to sell. Other than that, it’s a great holiday package, with the lead promoter publicly talking of delivering a construction decision before the holiday season is over.

Yet many still want to believe it’s possible, preferring to perpetuate the warm holiday glow of bountiful gas, plentiful jobs and wishful thinking of billions of dollars flowing into the state treasury.

But while the notion of a pipeline delivering North Slope gas to Southcentral boilers, furnaces and power plants is consuming much of the air in the convention hall of big ideas, Southcentral utilities face the real prospect of running short of gas before the end of the decade, as Cook Inlet production declines.

Which means those utilities would need to import gas — supercooled into a liquid and delivered by tanker from Canada or elsewhere. Which means spending money to build an import facility. Which means charging ratepayers for the investment.

That’s the immediate problem, not waiting for a pipeline to come to the rescue.

Southcentral’s largest electric utility, Chugach Electric Association, is negotiating with Harvest Midstream, an affiliate of Cook Inlet oil and gas producer Hilcorp, which plans to restore operations at the unused gas export terminal in Nikiski and turn it into an import hub. It’s a low-cost, low-risk plan — with federal authorization in hand — to use the existing dock and storage tanks to help keep the state’s population center warm and well-lit.

However, the same project developer that wants to build the North Slope project, a company named Glenfarne, thinks it has a better backup answer before its pipeline arrives. It proposes to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a gas import terminal from scratch. Southcentral gas utility ENSTAR is in on the plan.

The Glenfarne/ENSTAR project not only lacks approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, it hasn’t even applied for authorization. Glenfarne has talked of spending tens of millions of dollars just getting to a construction decision. Then more spending, and years, before it could start importing gas.

All of the Southcentral utilities need to get their collective acts together and use the lowest-cost, fastest-to-develop, most certain option to ensure their customers have the gas they need. That is repurposing the existing export plant into an import terminal.

Building an entirely new facility for a small customer base is as wasteful as spending more public money on an unaffordable gas pipeline.

Any bad spending decisions by the utilities could fall on ratepayers to cover, or the state to bail out. Alaska has made a lot of poor decisions about energy over the years. We don’t need one more.

Larry Persily is a longtime Alaska journalist, with breaks for federal, state and municipal public policy work in Alaska and Washington, D.C. He lives in Anchorage and is the publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel weekly newspaper.

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Virgin Voyages has launched a new month-long season pass giving cruise passengers access to perks such as a professional camera, laundry and bar credits during its Alaska sailings next year.

The 2026 Alaska Summer Season Pass provides a full month aboard the adult-only cruise line’s new Brilliant Lady.

It includes a Central Sea Terrace cabin for two passengers, daily drink credits and up to £188 worth of complimentary excursions each.

Passengers can also get upgraded wifi, laundry, spa passes and priority boarding.

You will even be able to photograph the beautiful scenery and wildlife of Alaska on a Canon G7X camera that is included in the price, as well as binoculars, a portable power bank, water bottle, backpack and a limited-edition Season Pass jacket and a collectible band.

Prices start at £19,575 to sail between 28 May and 23 June 2026, rising to £28,572 for between 23 June and 23 July, £26,317 for 30 July to 27 August and £27,069 for between 27 August and 26 September.

Read more: The best adult-only cruises

The price covers Virgin Voyages’ premium fare, which includes tips and lets passengers book onboard shows and restaurants 60 days in advance.

Each sailing is for a week but passengers with a pass will stay on board for a full 30 days.

This will give passengers a chance to get immersed in scenic destinations such as Ketchikan and Skagway where activities include sledding wit huskies and gold panning. There will also be chances to see glaciers and icebergs while sailing through Alaska’s Inside Passage.

Onboard, passengers can enjoy comedy shows, cabaret and high-end restaurants such as Korean barbecue venue Gunbae.

Nirmal Saverimuttu, chief executive of Virgin Voyages, “Alaska is one of the most awe-inspiring places on Earth.

“Experiencing it aboard Brilliant Lady means you get the adventure without sacrificing comfort, style or that Virgin sense of discovery — and without a single child on board. This is what a vacation is supposed to feel like.”

Virgin Voyages also offers a year-long pass for unlimited sailings, starting from £149,629.

Read more: Virgin Voyages changes cruise fares

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Two Alaska State Troopers were honored Tuesday for risking their lives to save people from drowning in separate incidents earlier this year, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Troopers Garrett Stephens and Nathan Hollenbeck received the Commissioner’s Commendation during a Dec. 2 ceremony at the governor’s office. Both entered frigid waters in different emergencies — one in the Mat-Su and one in Nenana — to rescue victims who were near death, officials said.

“Alaskans rely on our troopers to protect them and save them,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement, adding the pair’s actions “showcase their dedication and commitment to our great state.”

Rescue on the Tanana River

Around 2:30 a.m. on May 29, Hollenbeck responded while on standby to a report of a man struggling on the Tanana River. He arrived within minutes of the call and found the victim about 15 feet below a steel dock, hypothermic and unable to grab onto a tow strap lowered toward him.

“He was already pale,” Hollenbeck told Alaska’s News Source in an interview in May. “He was not really responding to us talking to him, and he was obviously weak and cold.”

Hollenbeck fastened a makeshift rescue harness, called for a boat or hoist, and then climbed into the icy waters himself.

For roughly 30 minutes, he kept the man’s head above the water until a rescue boat arrived. Both were severely hypothermic and taken to the hospital.

The man survived and was released from the ICU several days later.

Teen rescued from Mat-Su lake

On June 10, Stephens responded to an urgent call about a 17-year-old boy who had gone underwater about 75 feet from the shore of a Mat-Su lake.

Stephens sprinted into the 42-degree water and swam toward the teen, encouraging him to stay conscious as he drifted in and out of awareness and vomited water, officials said.

Medics threw two life vests into the lake. Stephens put one on and swam the second to the teen, securing it before towing him back to shore with one arm while holding the teen with the other.

The teen was treated for water inhalation and severe hypothermia. Doctors later determined he likely would have died without Stephens’ intervention.

Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell said the troopers “represent the very best of the Alaska State Troopers.”

“I am so proud to have such brave and dedicated troopers serving our state,” he said.

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