FAIRBANKS — An Alaska legislator devoted to in-state natural gas development is planning a major advertising push to focus on the issue.

A series of about 10,000 TV ads throughout 9 weeks promoting development of in-state natural gas began airing across Alaska on Tuesday morning.

The ads are being run on network and cable channels by Jay Ramras, who owns the local restaurant and hotel complex Pike’s Landing, and who also is a Republican state representative.

He said the ads keep with the social messaging tradition of Starbucks or Ben and Jerry’s and in the tradition of Pike’s Landing and Food Factory, his businesses, in supporting important community causes.

“It’s important for us to have a conversation about in-state gas,” Ramras said. “Our state has got issues. ... I want people to talk about this, and I want this to be the center-of-the-plate issue for the Parnell administration and in the next gubernatorial election cycle.”

Cook Inlet’s supply is dwindling and Anchorage has contended with peak demand delivery issues, while Fairbanks and the Interior are plagued with the crippling costs of diesel-generated power and heat. Golden Valley Electric Association imports some electricity generated by Southcentral natural gas but has had a difficult time recently securing that power.

Tyler Williams of Steve Neumuth Advertising filmed and edited the ads, which Ramras wrote. The idea developed a week ago.

The first ad, “I Dream of Gas,” features Ramras in the Pike’s boiler room, where he compares the cost of heating the property last year in Fairbanks with diesel — $148,000 — to the equivalent cost in Anchorage — $78,000.

“Our cost of energy is at the center of our standard of living,” Ramras says in the ad. “Fairbanks is struggling now; Anchorage will face uncertainty soon. ... The Railbelt of Alaska needs an in-state bullet line.”

In the second ad, “Conservation is Not Enough,” Ramras stands before solar panels outside Pike’s. “We’re the greenest hotel in the state,” Ramras said. “The message, though, is that renewables and alternatives are wonderful, but conservation is not enough.”

The third ad will feature testimonials by people Ramras works with about the trials of getting by in a diesel economy.

The ads are running 1,100 times per week on major cable news channels and during Alaska news broadcasts. They conclude with a plug for Ramras’ business: “Stay at Pike’s. We heat with diesel, but we dream of gas.”

Ramras wouldn’t disclose how much the ads cost.

As a disclaimer, Ramras said he’s not running for governor, as some rumors have indicated, and he hasn’t filed for re-election as a representative.

“I’m doing this as an independent citizen,” he said. “I’m exercising my First Amendment right of free speech, and I’m using the technique of social messaging.”

Republican Sens. Charlie Huggins of Wasilla and Lesil McGuire of Anchorage are expected to join Ramras in Fairbanks on Friday to roll out a PowerPoint presentation they want to take statewide pushing in-state gas development.

In-state gas project manager Harry Noah, who was appointed with fanfare by former Gov. Sarah Palin, said an initial state investment of $7 million authorized in the past legislative session will carry his work through February.

His team expects to have a report of the estimated cost of service for an in-state natural gas pipeline, or how much it will cost to move gas from the North Slope to Cook Inlet, by June 2010.

Earlier this week in Fairbanks, Gov. Sean Parnell said in-state gas is a priority and he expects Noah’s team to analyze a number of gas sources, including from the North Slope, Gubik, Nenana Basin and Cook Inlet.

Noah said the North Slope isn’t a critical piece of the puzzle, providing that a solid gas supply turns up elsewhere. Doyon Ltd. and partners are drilling an exploratory gas well near Nenana, and Anadarko has been exploring the Gubik Field for two seasons.

The Slope contains 35 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves and an estimated 200 trillion cubic feet of unproven reserves. A large-diameter natural gas pipeline, such as the one TransCanada is pursuing with the state’s Alaska Gasline Inducement Act license, will require approximately 50 trillion cubic feet. At this point, such a line is expected to carry gas from the North Slope.

“What we’re trying to do is wring some of the risk out of it so private industry develops the project,” Noah said. “It doesn’t matter to us where the gas comes from, just as long as there is a gas supply.”

His team also is evaluating a possible gas pipeline to western Alaska and the Donlin Creek mine.