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If you thought the House was done with AGIA, you were wrong.

When the House went in at 9 this morning for a reconsideration vote on the bill, a new letter of intent popped up that basically promoted the all-Alaska gas line.

Letters of intent don’t carry the weight of law -- and wouldn’t be considered an amendment to AGIA in this case -- but they do help clarify what lawmakers want from a bill.

And this one seemed to clash with AGIA. It basically said the Legislature wanted the governor to keep working on other gas line proposals even after issuing a state license to TransCanada.

Chaos ensued.

The House took a break, and lawmakers gathered in impromptu groups with TransCanada executives and members of Gov. Palin’s gas line team. New drafts emerged from printers and copy machines.

Rep. Ralph Samuels, a vocal opponent of AGIA and not really a fan of the all-Alaska line, sponsored the letter. Port authority project manager Bill Walker said he helped draft it.

The goal, Walker told me, wasn’t to take down AGIA or TransCanada, but just to make it clear that lawmakers wanted the state to keep working on an in-state/LNG export project within the bounds of AGIA. (TransCanada has promised to build a line to Valdez if the port authority or anyone else can put a project together.)

By 11 a.m., the second floor was crowded with lawmakers and legislative aides, TransCanada executives, administration officials, reporters and others. Summer tourists had to squeeze through.

AGIA supporters worked frantically with state officials and TransCanada to ensure the letter wouldn’t interfere with the license. (The latest version specifies “Nothing in this letter of intent is intended to alter the obligations of the parties under the law . . .”)

Some lawmakers scoffed at the letter or described it as political cover from constituents set on the all-Alaska plan. Others said it sent an important message.

Rep. Scott Kawasaki stood in the hallway and read a memo he’d requested from the Legislative Affairs Agency explaining what a letter of intent does and doesn’t do.

Rep. John Coghill, convinced the letter wouldn’t interfere with the license, went to his office.

House Speaker John Harris, who voted against the license last night, took a few practice golf swings in the Speaker’s Chamber, then put on a coat and went for ice cream.

A House committee is taking testimony on Palin’s energy bills, and lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene on the floor at 12:30. Or thereabouts.

UPDATE: After some lively, somewhat accusatory debate, the letter passed 39-0.