A newly-formed group, Friends of Ag and Energy, held a public information session in Bismarck this week, aimed primarily at addressing opposition to the state's developing carbon dioxide industry.

Governor Doug Burgum kicked off the event that also featured a panel of experts in agriculture and energy in North Dakota, as well as representatives from Summit Carbon Solutions, which has proposed a multi-state pipeline to transport CO2 from ethanol plants in five states for storage in underground formations in Mercer and Oliver Counties.

Burgum, in a 45-minute speech, went through a history of the state's efforts to address concerns about carbon dioxide emissions. Noting that there were many in the audience opposed to Summit's project, he pointed to the success of a pipeline built by Basin Electric that has been transporting CO2 from the Great Plains Synfuels plant near Beulah, to Canadian oilfields for the past 23 years.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Burgum also addressed critics of the federal 45Q tax credit that provides $85.00 per ton for CO2 that is permanently stored in underground formations, and $60.00 per ton for CO2 used in enhanced oil recovery. He said the subsidy provides an opportunity for the fossil fuel industry to better compete with the subsidized renewable industry.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Burgum also touted the legislature's passage of laws regulating the usage and compensation for underground pore space. He said the law ensures that even those who object to a project are paid for use of their pore space.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Burgum concluded his remarks, pointing out the importance of supporting the emerging CO2 industry.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Some critics of Summit's CO2 pipeline project have objected to the underground storage of CO2, treating it as waste rather than using it for enhanced oil recovery. John Harju, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at the Energy and Environmental Research Center, said the oil industry will someday soon develop EOR in the Bakken, and it will need much more CO2 than is now produced at the state's coal-fired power plants to prolong the state's oil production.

Click here to listen to Harju's comments.

Jason Bohrer, president of the Lignite Energy Council, said federal environmental regulators have treated CO2 as a waste product, but he said it's actually a valuable commodity.

Click here to listen to Bohrer's comments.

CO2 pipeline opponents in the crowd asked questions about a February 2020 rupture of a CO2 pipeline in Mississippi that sickened about 45 people. Jeff Skaare, director of Land, Legal and Regulatory Affairs for Summit, described findings of an investigation by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Skaare said PHMSA's 269-page report found that the pipeline was built in unstable soil, and the rupture was the result of a landslide following more than 20 inches of rain over a two-month period. He said the pipeline operator was woefully unprepared for a leak, and the pipeline was not constructed to modern industry standards.

The two-hour session was televised by BEK-TV. Click here to watch a video recording of the broadcast. Click here to learn more about Friends of Ag and Energy

Attorneys representing Burleigh and Emmons Counties argued in a ND Public Service Commission hearing this week that their local hazardous liquid pipeline ordinances are reasonable protections for residents and still allow pipeline development. 

But Bret Dublinske, an attorney for Summit Carbon Solutions, which is trying to develop a carbon dioxide pipeline through five states for sequestration in Mercer and Oliver Counties, said the ordinances rely on willing property owners granting exceptions to the rules, and are over-burdensome.

The case centers around Section 49-22.1-13 of the North Dakota Century Code, which provides for PSC preemption of local land use and zoning regulations in the siting of gas or liquid transmission facilities. Language in the law allows some exceptions if the local zoning regulations are considered reasonable, but Dublinske said ordinances enacted in Burleigh and Emmons Counties are clearly unreasonable.

Click here to listen to Dublinske's comments.

Attorneys for the two counties and a group of landowners argued that the preemption issue is different for the two parts of the pipeline permitting process. They argued that state law favors local ordinances in obtaining the certificate that determines the pipeline route, and state law supersedes local zoning for the permit to actually construct the pipeline. 

The PSC did not vote after its two-hour hearing, and did not indicate when a ruling will be made.

Click here to read an article from North Dakota Monitor with more details about the hearing.

The ND Department of Environmental Quality is planning a second round of online input forums to discuss methods of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The Online Sustainability Input Forums set for January 9-11 will share the feedback gathered from DEQ's first round of in-person forums, and offer an opportunity for North Dakotans to provide input on proposed reduction strategies. The effort is supported through a planning grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and its "Climate Pollution Reduction Grants" program.

Feedback from the forums will be used to develop North Dakota’s initial action plan and corresponding grant request, due to EPA by Spring 2024. Ideas, perspectives, research and planning from the process will also inform the state’s longer-term sustainability planning and work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Each Online Sustainability Input Forum will be held via ZOOM and recorded for replay on the DEQ website. To participate in any of the three sessions, participants are asked to register on the DEQ website. After registering, they will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Click here for more information about the sustainability forums, or to register for one of the online Zoom sessions. Recordings of previous forums are also available at the link.

Average daily oil production was down in North Dakota in the month of October, attributable to an early-season snowstorm that forced operators to shut in several hundred wells.

During his monthly Director's Cut news conference, Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, said production averaged 1.245 million barrels per day in October, down about 35,000 bbl/day from September. Helms said the wintry weather forced producers to shut down wells when they weren't able to get to wellpads to empty oil storage tanks that had filled.

Click here to listen to Helms' comments.

Helms said natural gas production was also down one percent in October, averaging just over 3.4 billion cubic feet per day, but producers were able to meet the state's 94 percent gas capture target.

North Dakota's drilling rig count has dropped in recent weeks, with just 34 rigs in operation. Helms said only one of those rigs is on the Ft. Berthold Reservation because drilling has been completed in most leased locations. But he said there are more opportunities on the reservation if the state and the Three Affiliated Tribes can come to agreement on sharing royalties and tax revenue from minerals under Lake Sakakawea.

Click here to listen to Helms' comments.

Helms said production on Ft. Berthold had previously been around a quarter million barrels per day, but is now down to about 140,000 bbl/day.

Helms expressed concern about the Biden administration's ongoing regulatory war on the oil industry, focusing attention on a methane capture rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. State regulations already in place have been successful in capturing the bulk of natural gas associated with oil production, but Helms said the EPA regs would target many of the state's older wells that are still producing, but are marginally profitable.

Click here to listen to Helms' comments.

Helms said Dakota Prairie Grasslands, a division of the US Forest Service, has also announced plans over the next couple years to develop a travel management plan.

"That's going to affect every two-track, every road, every improved road, county road, private road, out in the Dakota Prairie Grasslands," Helms said.

He said the Securities and Exchange Commission has also proposed a regulation that would allow the formation of natural asset companies, which would not be required to show a return on investment. He said it would allow activist groups to purchase land and take it out of production.

"It's an all-of-federal-government, anti-fossil fuel administration," Helms said, "and North Dakota intends to push back very strongly against that."

Click here to read or download Helms' Director's Cut.

The ND Petroleum Council has "significant concerns" about new methane emission reduction rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is currently wading through the nearly 1,700 pages of highly technical and complex regulations, which suggest "substantial costs and operational burdens."

"The new rules, which include the elimination of flaring, could lead to the abandonment of some wells, posing a particular challenge for certain operations," said NDPC President Ron Ness. "Small marginal wells make up a large portion of production across the industry, and operators will have to weigh out the costs of compliance to determine if it is economically feasible to continue operation on these wells."

The regulations for new and existing petroleum operations are the first major climate rules of the Biden administration to become final, but an industry legal challenge is a near certainty.

North Dakota's Congressional delegation sent a letter in July to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, urging the agency to withdraw the proposed rules. The delegation pushed back on the rule’s one-size-fits-all approach and outlined how it would force energy producers to shut down operations due to unworkable mandates, harming the nation’s energy security, reducing revenue to states, tribes and local governments, and eliminating good-paying jobs.

The Petroleum Council echoed those concerns in a statement posted on its website. It said the new methane rules are "another step by the Biden Administration to impose stringent and unrealistic targets on the domestic energy industry."

"U.S. producers are global leaders in emission reduction and continue to make significant advancements each year," the statement reads. "However, instead of recognizing these efforts, the current administration seems to favor importing oil and gas from countries with less stringent environmental standards, undermining U.S. energy security and global emission reduction efforts."

The oil and gas industry has already demonstrated a strong commitment to lowering methane emissions," the statement continues. "In the Williston Basin, methane emissions have decreased by 30 percent since 2018, and we’ve recently worked with the North Dakota Legislature to develop an incentive program aimed at further reducing flaring across the Bakken."

Ness said the Petroleum Council is especially concerned about introduction of what the EPA calls “third-party” monitoring.

"This provision could potentially allow groups opposed to oil and gas production to influence and escalate actions against industry operations, further complicating the regulatory landscape and increasing constraints on the industry’s ability to support U.S. energy independence," he said.

Click here to read an article about the methane rules in the Bismarck Tribune.

The ND Industrial Commission approved policies this week to implement its Clean Natural Gas Capture and Emissions Reduction Program.

Previous incentives to reduce flaring involved a tax credit mechanism funded by a $3.5 million appropriation, but the program was revised because the previous effort was not widely adopted by operators who took advantage of only 10% of the appropriated dollars. The new program, authorized by SB 2089 enacted by the 2023 Legislature, appropriates $3 million for direct grants to encourage investment in technologies that reduce emissions and flaring, specifically to incentivize recovery of at least 50 percent of the propane and heavier hydrocarbons for “beneficial use."

NDIC Deputy Director Reice Haase said the Oil and Gas Research Council endorsed the program, and recommended it establish a team to evaluate applications for the program, prioritizing those that address some of the more difficult areas to reduce flaring.

Click here to listen to Haase's comments.

Technologies eligible for the grants include capture of tank vapor, gas injection into producing wells, compression for artificial lift, and generation of on-site electricity, among others. The state would benefit from the generation of additional tax revenue from wells that are no longer required to be shut-in due to pipeline outages or issues with gas capture infrastructure.

NDIC announced that it is accepting applications through the Oil and Gas Research Council for work conducted between now and June 30, 2025.

By Mary Steurer | North Dakota Monitor

North Dakota is still weighing whether to challenge Minnesota’s new carbon-free energy standard nearly a year after top officials sent a letter to Minnesota’s governor calling on the state to modify its plan.

The plan, enacted by Minnesota lawmakers earlier this year, requires Minnesota utility providers to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity sources by 2040. That includes sources brought across state lines.

North Dakota officials are worried the plan could threaten the state’s gas and coal companies.

Over half of the electricity generated in North Dakota goes to out-of-state customers, and most of that supply goes to Minnesota, according to the North Dakota Lignite Energy Council.

While the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission still has to iron out some of the details related to the plan, the uncertainty has already made it difficult for energy companies in North Dakota to plan for the future, the North Dakota Lignite Energy Council said.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission — which comprises Gov. Doug Burgum, Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring — met in a closed-door executive session Monday afternoon to discuss legal matters related to the Minnesota plan. 

After the executive session, Wrigley said the commission is waiting to see how Minnesota implements the standard before taking action.

North Dakota expects to file public comments with Minnesota regulators on the plan early next year, Wrigley said.

In January, the Industrial Commission sent a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz voicing concerns that the law would illegally restrict North Dakota commerce. North Dakota officials also signaled that if Minnesota adopted the proposal unamended, North Dakota may take legal action. Walz signed the measure into law in February.

North Dakota successfully sued Minnesota over a similar law the state adopted in 2007. That measure, which was ultimately struck down by the courts, barred Minnesota from buying energy from any new out-of-state coal plants.

A federal district court judge in 2014 ruled that the law was unconstitutional because it effectively regulated the economies of other states.

Minnesota also lost at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 2016.

The ND Industrial Commission approved $8.6 million in matching grants this week during its first round of funding for grid resilience projects.

North Dakota was one of three states and two tribes to receive the U.S. Department of Energy’s first tranche of funding under the program created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The approved grid resilience projects include:

• $2,843,075 to McKenzie Electric Cooperative for the installation of remotely operated equipment and the replacement of 700 powerline poles.

• $321,930 to Capital Electric Cooperative for the conversion of 49 highway overhead line crossings to underground crossings. 

• $4,432,088 to Otter Tail Power Company for its “Next Generation Grid Resiliency” project, to include the deployment of a new intelligent vegetation management system, drone-based inspections and ultrasonic technology to evaluate equipment failure.

• $586,000 to Northern Plains Electric Cooperative for upgrades to 23.5 miles of optical ground wire and the installation of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition equipment. 

“We commend the project sponsors for their investments in energy resiliency,” the Commission said in a joint statement. “We were among the first group of states to receive funding for grid resilience and will now be the first state to deploy its dollars to ensure our citizens can continue to enjoy a safe and reliable electric grid."     

Voters in the Alexander Public School District were evenly divided this week on a $9 million school bond issue that would have added 10 new classrooms, expanded the kitchen and cafeteria, and made other improvements.

Unofficial totals showed the vote ended in an 89-89 tie, but it required 60 percent approval to pass. The project was supported by $10 million in Bankhead Jones dollars provided to the district by the McKenzie County Commission, so the bond issue was downsized from a previous $15.5 million measure that failed in a January 17 vote.

The previous proposal, which provided for the addition of 14 classrooms rather than 10, received only 35 percent support. Although this week's measure also failed, Alexander Superintendent Leslie Bieber, who is president of the WDEA board, was encouraged that more of the district's patrons appreciate the school's need for space.

"The positive thing about it is we had 15 percent more 'yes' votes than last January, so 15 percent more people agreed with it, and that's a win in my book," Bieber said.

The Alexander School Board will meet January 9 to discuss next steps, which Bieber said could possibly include doing a project in phases with money from the district's building fund or the Bankhead Jones dollars. Recent enrollment increases and the lack of space for students and educational offerings are impacting the district's ability to provide a well-rounded education, Bieber said, so the problem can't be ignored.

"We had 40 more kids walk in last year, and 20-plus this year, and we have to have room to put them somewhere," she said. "You just have to start cutting things out, and that's not what we want to do."

Another western North Dakota district has a school bond vote scheduled early next month. Voters in the Tioga District will go to the polls January 9 to decide the fate of a $23.6 million bond issue to finance construction of a gymnasium and classroom addition at Tioga High School.

by Congressman Kelly Armstrong, originally published in the Fargo Forum

North Dakota has a great story to tell. From oil and gas, to coal, to biofuels, to hydropower, and to wind power, we are part of the solution to meeting energy needs, not the problem. Our state has helped pave the way toward American energy independence while we feed and fuel the world.

I recently had the honor of taking North Dakota’s story to the international stage. I led a bipartisan congressional delegation to the United Nations climate summit, known as COP28, in Dubai. We met with leaders from around the globe to hear from them and share our vision for meeting rising energy needs while being good stewards of the environment.

The fact is, the United States is a global leader in reducing emissions, and North Dakota has been an important driver of that. Contrary to the narrative coming from many on the environmental left, the best way to reduce emissions is to empower innovation and technological advancements, not double down on burdensome regulations that do nothing to keep the air and water clean.

We should be proud of what has been achieved and encourage domestic companies to take the lead across the globe. There are many areas of opportunity for us globally. Leaders in developing countries view us as an example as they look to improve the quality of life for their citizens. They are worried about creating a reliable food supply and improving the lives of millions. With the exception of democracy, nothing has lifted more people out of poverty than cheap and reliable energy. These leaders are hungry for energy and for the technologies needed to produce it. We must engage with developing countries, otherwise we risk the void being filled by our adversaries like China and Russia.

Maintaining a strong energy mix and continuing innovation is critical to achieving energy security not only at home, but it makes for a more secure world. America’s energy production has and will continue to strengthen our country and our communities. North Dakota will continue to show the path to meeting our energy needs in a clean and affordable way.

In the early morning hours over the Memorial Day weekend last May, coal miners at the Freedom Mine near Beulah, made an extraordinary find: a well-preserved, seven-foot-long tusk of an ancient mammoth.

Recognizing the importance of the discovery, the mine shut down operations and roped off the site until representatives of the ND Geological Survey, the State Historical Society, and the Bureau of Land Management could visit the site to document the discovery. NDGS Senior Paleontologist Clint Boyd said the discovery was amazing, made even more so because it happened in the middle of the night.

Click here to listen to Boyd's comments.

Boyd said over the course of 12 days, a team led by paleontologists from the NDGS excavated the old streambed where the fossils were buried thousands of years ago.

Click here to listen to Boyd's comments.

Without the mining of coal in the area, the important discovery would never have been made.

Click here to listen to Boyd's comments.

After being stabilized in protective plaster jackets, the bones were transported to the paleontology lab at the ND Heritage Center in Bismarck. There they are undergoing the slow and meticulous process of cleaning off the attached sediment and stabilizing the delicate bones. While that work continues, staff from NDGS and the Freedom Mine are working together to develop a plan to integrate the fossils into an educational outreach program and discussing possible locations where they could be put on public display. The goal is to ensure as many people as possible can see this specimen and learn what it tells us about life in North Dakota during the Ice Age.

Mammoths lived in North Dakota during the Pleistocene Epoch, commonly called the Ice Age, and went extinct in this area around 10,000 years ago. Several species of mammoth lived in North America, including the Woolly Mammoth and the Columbian Mammoth. They lived alongside other iconic animals like saber-toothed tigers and giant sloths. Once the bones are fully cleaned, paleontologists will be able to identify which species was collected from the mine.

Vision West ND has scheduled its annual meeting January 18 in Beulah, and will include an opportunity for attendees to tour Coteau Properties' Freedom Mine during the gathering.

The meeting is set for the Cobblestone Inn in Beulah beginning with a light breakfast at 8:30 CST, with the meeting called to order at 9:00 am. Attendees will be transported to the mine for a tour at about 11:00 am, and will be served lunch during the tour. Participants will be transported back to Beulah by 2:00 pm to finish the meeting.

The meeting agenda features two important presentations. Attendees will hear a representative from the Lignite Energy Council discuss the plethora of proposed federal anti-fossil fuel rules and their impact on North Dakota. Attendees will also learn about the newly-formed Office of Legal Immigration. 

The meeting also includes election of new board members and identifying priority areas to focus on in 2024. 

Vision West members are urged to contact Administrator Deb Nelson if they wish to attend and participate in the lunch and tour of the mine. A full agenda will be posted closer to the date of the annual meeting.

The ND Department of Environmental Quality is now accepting applications for its State Clean Diesel Grant Program.

Schools, cities, counties, and other government agencies that require larger, heavy-duty vehicles are encouraged to apply for the grant awards. DEQ will issue $410,000 in grants funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to purchase new or newer, diesel-powered, zero-emission, hybrid, or alternatively fueled vehicles.

The purpose of the funding is to reduce diesel emissions in accordance with the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of the Energy Policy Act of 2010. To date, 120 older vehicles in North Dakota have been replaced using this funding, with a reduction in air emissions of about 225 tons over the lifetime of those vehicles.

Click here to see the application and program guidelines. Applications can be mailed to the ND Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality, 4201 Normandy Street, 2nd Floor, Bismarck, ND 58503-1324 or emailed to airquality@nd.gov. Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. CST on January 31, 2024. 

The ND Department of Transportation has selected the winners of its third annual Name-A-Plow contest, in which North Dakota citizens submitted snowplow name ideas.

NDDOT received a total of 1,153 snowplow name ideas that were considered in the contest. Names were narrowed down by the district from which the names were submitted, and winners were chosen by NDDOT employee votes.

The winners will have the opportunity to meet with the operator of the plow they named, as well as have their snowplow name displayed on the plow throughout this winter season.

The names selected as winners of the contest are:

• Dickinson District: Cousin Eddie
• Minot District: Buzz Iceclear
• Williston District: Alice Scooper
• Bismarck District: Brrrrrnie
• Devils Lake District: Polar Patroler
• Grand Forks District: Blizzard of OZ
• Fargo District: Sno’ Problem
• Valley City District: Drift Busters

Click here for more information on winter weather driving, the ND Roads app, and the Name-A-Plow Contest.

Anyone who ventured outside in the late afternoon hours this week will attest that there were some incredibly beautiful sunsets to behold, and images of some of those colorful skies were captured this week by the high-definition cameras on WDEA's Wise Roads weather stations. Photos from Wise Roads cameras are updated continuously throughout the daylight hours on the Wise Roads web page.

The Wise Roads project (Weather Information System to Effectively Reduce Oilfield Delays and Disruptions) was developed by WDEA to increase the efficiency of the movement of oilfield truck traffic. Most weather stations were placed in the core area of Bakken production, focusing on Dunn, McKenzie, Mountrail and Williams Counties. The project provides more accurate weather information to county road managers, especially about rain events, to minimize the need to impose weight restrictions when gravel roads get wet. It was developed in partnership with NDAWN, which maintains the stations for WDEA. The project was also assisted with a $250,000 grant from the Oil & Gas Research Council.

Fifty new stations have been installed, 39 of which are located in the four core oil-producing counties. Prior to the start of the project, Dunn and McKenzie Counties had just one station each, Mountrail County had three and Williams County had four. Weather station data and high-resolution photos can be found at wiseroadsnd.com. Additional information is also available from NDAWN. 

Featured shots this week are clockwise from upper left, Bowman 4W, with the sunset dropping below the horizon with a passing train in the foreground; Rawson 2N, with a colorful blend of pink, orange and gray; Croff, with some swirly clouds at sunset; and Belfield 4NE, with colors so amazing the photo looks like a painting. Click on the link for a high-resolution image.