Alaskans who draw North Slope natural gas from the proposed large-volume pipeline would pay only a tiny fraction of the multibillion-dollar project's construction and operating cost. That's because of long-standing federal and state laws that say gas shippers should pay for only the proportion of the pipeline system they use. These policies are designed to hold down prices that consumers along the pipeline pay and to keep small gas shippers from being discriminated against. The gas taken off in the state won't be free - Alaskans still would pay many millions of dollars annually to receive gas shipped from Prudhoe Bay or other North Slope fields.