First LNG Load Delivered to Fairbanks Utility

IGU is owned by the Fairbanks North Star Borough and serves more than 3,400 customers. It operates more than 150 miles of mainline in Fairbanks and 85 miles in North Pole, supported by 5.5 million gallons of LNG storage at three storage sites. In 2023 IGU signed a manufacturing agreement with Harvest Alaska LNG, a subsidiary of Harvest Midstream, for an initial twenty-year term, with options to extend the term twice, each time with five-year extensions.

Harvest Alaska announced earlier this year that it was acquiring the Kenai LNG Terminal with the goal of converting it to an LNG import facility to serve the Southcentral market. The company, which is partnering with Marathon Petroleum Corporation (the facility’s previous owner), Chugach Electric Association, and other Southcentral utilities, is expected to receive its first LNG imports in 2026, with full-scale operations expected by 2028.

Converting homes and businesses from fuel oil or wood over to natural gas service will have a significant improvement to air quality. Harvest’s LNG facility is capable of reducing emissions by up to 2,000 tons per year, a large component of which is particulate matter, Harvest officials say.

“Bringing North Slope natural gas into Fairbanks is a historic step for Interior Alaska but also for our state as a whole,” says Elena Sudduth, General Manager of IGU. “This project gives our community access to a new, virtually unlimited, source of gas, strengthening our resilience and ensuring our customers have access to reliable service as Alaska’s energy landscape continues to evolve.”

Harvest Midstream began operating in Alaska in 2014 and has steadily expanded its role in the state’s critical infrastructure—including the 2020 acquisition of BP’s midstream assets, bringing Harvest a 49 percent ownership stake in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.