CSHB 394(L&C) am Summary

• Grants the Regulatory Commission of Alaska authority to regulate natural gas storage and liquefied natural gas storage services provided by pipeline carriers and natural gas pipeline carriers, with exemptions for North Slope natural gas pipeline facilities and federal Energy Regulatory Commission-jurisdictional LNG import facilities.

• Requires rate-setting to include costs for dismantlement, removal, and restoration of storage facilities, fair market value of assets used for storage, and must account for tax exemptions and credits received by facility owners.

• Prohibits public utilities from including investments in LNG import or export facilities in their rate base for determining utility property, even if exempt from commission regulation.

• Creates confidentiality protections for financial records of gas storage facilities and pipeline carriers held by the commission, allowing disclosure only to state or federal agencies when necessary for commission duties.

• Establishes definitions for "service of natural gas storage" and "service of liquefied natural gas storage" as operations serving third-party customers where storage prices are separately itemized, excluding storage owned by or obligated to facility operators.