Real Estate & Property Law

Alaska Commission Approves Gas Storage Project

By Alan Ackerman

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is in the process of setting a date certain for local utilities to acquire all property for a major gas storage project. The Alaska Journal of Commerce implies that property owners are improperly holding out and hindering this project. To the contrary; the owners have a right to negotiate and to fair treatment. All too often these rights are lacking when dealing with an acquiring gas storage company empowered to condemn by the State Public Service Commission.

Alaska Journal of Commerce

In a motion appealing the RCA order CINGSA said it will be impossible to meet the Dec. 30 deadline and that making the approval conditional on completing property acquisition with an eminent domain powers that designation as a utility confers "makes the project a hostage" of 44 property owners with which it is now negotiating, CINGSA said in its appeal. One of the entities with which CINGSA is still negotiating is Marathon Oil Co., which holds leases at the Cannery Loop gas field in which the storage project would be located.

In its appeal of the RCA order CINGSA said having eminent domain powers of an approved utility will enable it to complete negotiations with the various property owners and to pay fair market prices.

"Without an unconditional certificate and specified service territory (conferred by the regulatory commission) CINGSA has no way to compel those property owners to negotiate in good faith or to accept fair market value for their property," CINGSA said in its appeals.

 

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on January 12, 2011 (boomark / email).