I now believe that the $250,000 “independent” study has been kept secret in part because the consulting firm did not denounce the theory that the Red Dog mine and its transportation system might have been built without a state subsidy.

If a subsidy was not needed, that would mean that AIDEA cannot take credit for all of the economic output generated by that mine and that AIDEA’s economic benefits would be trimmed by billions or tens of billions. We will know if I am right if the Senate Resources Committee succeeds in getting AIDEA to release the “independent” 2024 study.

Randy Ruaro, executive director of AIDEA, testified this week that the treatment of Red Dog finances in the 2024 report was a topic that prompted AIDEA to require that Northern Economics revise the “independent” study.

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Northern Economics completed a $250,000 “independent” study of AIDEA in early 2024 and was paid in full, but the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority never released it to the public.

Now the head of the agency says he knows of no reason why it can’t release the report. This is a welcome change and long overdue. The Senate Resources Committee is awaiting copies of the 2024 report.

I began writing about this in late 2024 and have done so many times, but AIDEA claimed the study was a draft and that it was not a public document. Draft reports are public documents under state law.

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“ What is the new applicant name for Alaska LNG Project?” Sen. Cathy Giessel asked Glenfarne Vice President Adam Prestidge and AGDC President Frank Richards in an email Thursday afternoon.

“I want to be able to refer to the project accurately,” she wrote.

Giessel referred to a March 2 posting by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that said the company had applied for a name change, but the details were in a letter that was marked “privileged,” meaning it is a secret.

Glenfarne says it was all a big misunderstanding. The name was not changed.

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The head of the state Division of Elections, who is supervised by Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, refused Wednesday to release the legal advice provided to her by the Department of Law that led her to reveal private information on all Alaska voters to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Asked by Sen. Bill Wielechowski if she would release the legal advice from state lawyers, Elections Director Carol Beecher did not want to respond.

“I will be conferring with the Department of Law in regard to your question,” Beecher said.

Wielechowski asked why she had to talk to the Department of Law when the decision on releasing the information is entirely up to her.

Legally, the decision is entirely up to her. There is no basis for claiming it should remain secret or for her excessive hemming and hawing.

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There was no compelling legal argument that led the Dunleavy administration to divulge private information about all Alaska voters to the Department of Justice for Donald Trump’s campaign to interfere with the 2026 elections.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and temporary Attorney General Stephen Cox wanted to just say yes to the Trump administration, which is what they did. Under a Democratic president they would have attacked the request as federal overreach.

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One of the big problems with the Dunleavy administration decision to give private information on every Alaska voter to the Department of Justice is that the Trump administration has failed to take proper preparations to protect the data.

The Trump administration is trying to sweep up information on all voters in every state in advance of the 2026 elections. Most states have refused to go along with the transfer of private information that is not available to those who check voter rolls. But Alaska agreed to hand over the data without security guarantees.

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Under state law a voter’s age, Social Security number, driver’s license number, identification number, place of birth and signature are confidential.

Other states and at least three federal courts have recognized that the federal government does not have a right to such information. But not Alaska. The Dunleavy administration folded.

The Trump administration has now sued 29 states, all but 5 led by Democrats, for refusing to hand over private voter data.

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The canned responses by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich the Third to the new surprise war against Iran are predictably superficial, designed to avoid even asking the real questions about why this is being done now, what the risks are for the U.S. and the world, why this is justified and what comes next.

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If Alaska utilities trust Frank Richards, the president of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, they will abandon all costly plans to import natural gas because he is confident that a gas pipeline will be built.

“I put my confidence level at 98 percent,” Richards told the Senate Resources Committee this past week.

So it’s a sure thing. Someone should have asked if he’d be willing to bet his paycheck on that prediction. Richards is again at the top of the pay scale in state government, earning a total of $527,764 last year.

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The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation says it cannot reveal the governance details of the entity it set up to pursue the gas line because it is a minority partner with 25 percent of the project, while Glenfarne owns 75 percent.

Sen. Cathy Giessel asked AGDC to request Glenfarne to provide the Legislature with redacted versions of its agreements with AGDC.

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