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Gasoline prices in Anchorage hovered near $3.93 a gallon, Wednesday. (KTUU/Ted Land / July 11, 2012) |
State lawmakers are exploring the idea of building a gasoline storage facility in Alaska, as a way to bring down fuel prices.
The idea came up during a Senate hearing in Anchorage, Wednesday, during which lawmakers tried to determine why gas prices are higher in Alaska, and what, if anything, the state can do about it.
“The key is you’ve got to increase competition,” said Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage), who helped organized the meeting, “you've got to get more gasoline into the Alaska market.”
Lawmakers discussed having AIDEA, the state authority which helps promote and develop large infrastructure projects, take the lead on building a fuel storage facility.
An AIDEA representative agreed that the organization could make it happen.
“You’d want to get a couple large companies, either Holiday, or Fred Meyer gas, or Costco, for instance, they would go ahead, buy into this gas storage facility, and then when the gasoline came they would be able to buy it at a cheaper rate than what the gasoline is from the refineries here in Alaska,” said Wielechowski.
Lawmakers also discussed having the state regulate gasoline prices, much like they do for electricity and natural gas, but the idea sounded unpopular among lawmakers. A representative from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska said such regulation would be unprecedented.
“If there’s a free market solution, let’s try to figure that out first,” said Wielechowski, “as a legislature we can incentivize that.”
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