The 90 Percent Discount

Cedar Valley News – February 12, 2026
The 90 Percent Discount
By: Caleb Mercer
From the fictional town of Cedar Valley, where characters from Quiet Echo continue to respond to real-world events.

Alaska’s governor Mike Dunleavy wants to cut the property tax on a gas pipeline by 90 percent — from the standard 20-mill rate on oil and gas infrastructure to two mills — for the lifetime of the project. Thirty years or more. Alaska has never done anything like it.

Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, a Republican, called it “a pretty big ask.” She is being polite. At full assessed value on a $50 billion project, the difference between 20 mills and two mills is roughly $660 million a year. Not once. Every year. For a generation.

This is not a tax policy question. It is a constitutional one.

Article VIII of the Alaska Constitution — the first article dealing solely with natural resources ever written into any state constitution — was drafted by 55 delegates in Fairbanks in 1955 for one reason: to prevent the exploitation of Alaska’s resources by outside interests. Section 2 reads: “The legislature shall provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its people.”

The natural gas under the North Slope belongs to the people of Alaska. The delegates who wrote those words knew exactly what they were guarding against. For decades, Outside-owned canneries had hauled salmon out of Alaska’s waters through fish traps while local fishermen saw little return. Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening called it exploitation by absentee interests. The constitutional convention abolished fish traps in Ordinance No. 3 and enshrined the principle in Article VIII: Alaska’s natural resources are a public trust, to be developed for the maximum benefit of the people who own them.

Glenfarne Energy Transition, a New York-based investment firm, acquired a 75 percent stake in the Alaska LNG project in March 2025. The state retains 25 percent through the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation. Glenfarne has told lawmakers this is a private-sector project — that it will bear all costs, secure all investors, and accept all risks, including overruns and delays.

If that is true, the question writes itself: Why does a privately financed, privately profitable project need the largest property tax break in Alaska history?

Glenfarne has not made a final investment decision. It has not released an updated cost estimate. The original figure of $44 billion is widely considered outdated. Borough mayors have asked whether local governments will see enough revenue from a two-mill rate to cover the impact of construction on their roads, schools, and services. The state’s own legislative consultant, GaffneyCline — a subsidiary of Baker Hughes, which plans to supply equipment for the project — has suggested the developer may need additional state concessions providing “fiscal stability.” That phrase should concern every Alaskan. It means the two-mill rate may be the beginning of the ask, not the end.

Governor Dunleavy argues two mills is better than the zero the state collects if the project is not built. The arithmetic is correct. The principle is not. “Better than nothing” is not the standard the Constitution sets. The standard is “maximum benefit of the people.” Those are not the same thing, and the governor knows it — or should.

Senator Jesse Kiehl of Juneau put it plainly: “There seems to be a built-in notion that there’s about to be a lot of revenue from a big gas line. It has two problems. One is we’ve been hearing that for decades, and there isn’t any yet. And the other is that without some substantial changes to our structure and some of the tax laws, there’s not going to be revenue from the big gas line.”

Governor Dunleavy took an oath. Every public officer in Alaska does, under Article XII, Section 5 of the constitution: “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Alaska, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties as Governor to the best of my ability.”

Support and defend. Not set aside when the deal seems big enough. Not bend when a developer says the project depends on it. Support and defend. Article VIII is not a suggestion. It is the law the governor swore to uphold. And “maximum benefit of the people” does not mean a 90 percent discount for a New York investment firm on a resource the people of Alaska own.

The gas under the North Slope was there before Glenfarne arrived. It will be there after they leave. The constitution was written to make sure that when Alaska’s resources are developed, the people who own them receive a fair return. Not a token. Not whatever the developer decides to offer. A fair return, negotiated from strength, with the public interest — not the project timeline — as the measure of a good deal.

I stock shelves for a living. I am not a constitutional scholar. But I can read, and I remember what those 55 delegates were trying to prevent. They had watched a territory’s wealth walk out the door in someone else’s pocket. They wrote Article VIII to make sure it would not happen again.

That promise should not be sold at a 90 percent discount. And the man who swore to defend it should not be the one offering the sale.

This editorial is part of the fictional Cedar Valley News series. While the people and town are fictional, the national events they reflect on are real.

Want to know the full story behind Cedar Valley? Teresa, Caleb, Dan, and the community you’ve come to know in these editorials first came together in Quiet Echor. Discover how a small town found its way from fear to fellowship — one quiet act of courage at a time. Available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ME4nSs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Start Your Publishing Journey with Expert Guidance.
Unlock Exclusive Tips, Trends, and Opportunities to Bringing Your Book to Market.

About Us

Kindly contact us if you've written a book, if you're writing a book, if you're thinking about writing a book, we can help!

Departments

My Account

Social Media

Payment

Publication Consultants Publication Consultants

Copyright 2023 powered by Publication Consultants All Rights Reserved.