From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Bob Poe, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, said today that he wants the state to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Fairbanks. That would make Fairbanks into what he calls the “All Alaska Gas Hub.”

“The state of Alaska should take the lead in building a large capacity gas pipeline from the North Slope to Fairbanks creating the All Alaska Gas Hub as a central connection point for multiple gas lines in Alaska similar to the Henry Hub in Louisiana,” Poe said in a statement sent out by his campaign.

The Poe campaign said the proposal could cost the state around $10 billion. The state could bond for the project, it said, potentially using investment earnings from the $34 billion Permanent Fund if needed to support the revenue bonds.

Poe is pitching it as a way for the state to get off the dime and stop squabbling over competing projects for using gas in state and exporting it.

“Each of Alaska’s competing gas lines suffers the same problem. Before any of these pipelines can deliver even an MCF of gas they each must travel 800 miles to the North Slope. Under the All Alaska Gas Hub concept, the first and toughest 400 miles are met through the State’s investment making each of the competing pipelines easier to finance once they are ready” Poe said in the statement from his campaign.

Read Poe's argument for the proposal by clicking here.