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An Alaska natural gas company offered Monday to provide fuel to Alaska Electric Light and Power generators for between 30 and 50 percent less than the cost of diesel.

Following the avalanches that destroyed the Snettisham transmission line, AEL&P has provided about 85 percent of Juneau's electricity through diesel generation that consumes 100,000 gallons a day at an estimated cost between $300,000 and $400,000 per day - a cost fully passed on to the community.

Francis Avezac, Alaska Intrastate Gas Board chairman, wrote to the AEL&P president and general manager, Tim McLeod, saying his company could provide all AEL&P's gas needs within 60 days, if the permits could be fast tracked.

"We should be able to cut your costs by at least a third," Avezac said.

McLeod testified to the Juneau Assembly on Monday night that natural gas generation had potential, but that his company could not afford to make the investment to convert its generators.

"It may be less expensive," McLeod said. "But it would not be easy."

Assembly member Sara Chambers asked McLeod to explain what sacrifices AEL&P has made or will make during the so-called energy crisis.

"There is not a lot we can do," McLeod said.

"I'm a bit chagrined to hear that AEL&P is not interested in alternative fuels," said Bob Loescher, a Juneau representative for AIG.

Assembly member David Stone, a former AEL&P vice president, said that AIG's fuel offer might be a long-term solution, but would not be helpful during the crisis. Generators need to be retrofitted and a storage facility would need to be built, he said.

• Contact Greg Skinner at 523-2258 or greg.skinner@juneauempire.com.