Governor Doug Burgum, who's seeking the GOP Presidential nomination, focused much of his attention in a speech at this week's ND Petroleum Council annual meeting on Biden administration energy policies that he said are "going 180° in the wrong direction."

Burgum said Biden fails to recognize the connection between energy security and national security, and the threat posed by adversaries like China, Russia and Iran.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Burgum criticized Biden's War on Fossil Fuels and his belief that climate change poses an existential threat to humanity.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Regulations proposed by Biden's EPA in its Carbon Rule are aimed at forcing the shutdown of all US coal plants by 2040. But Burgum said recent reports indicate China is opening two new coal plants a week, so the EPA regulations will do nothing to reduce global CO2 emissions.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Burgum also criticized the administration's relationship with Russia, pointing out that Biden's attack on fossil fuels has allowed European allies to become dependent on Russia for energy. He characterized Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a "mob boss."

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

The Biden administration has launched an effort to electrify the transportation sector, but Burgum said promoting expensive electric vehicles will not improve the environment, and will further empower China because the United States lacks the raw materials to produce batteries.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Throughout his remarks, Burgum touted his policy of "innovation over regulation." He said America should unleash its energy sector because the US produces energy cleaner and more efficiently than any other place in the world.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Burgum applauded North Dakota oil producers for the efficiency of their operations. He said if all the well pads in the state were combined, it would cover an area of just 40 square miles, or .05% of the state's land mass.

Click here to see Burgum's Presidential campaign website.

If North Dakota does not have carbon dioxide pipelines to import CO2 from outside the state, it will severely reduce the state's opportunity for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), leaving 9-to-10 billion barrels of oil in the ground.

That was the message from Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, to attendees at the ND Petroleum Council's annual meeting in Watford City. Helms said the state's EOR potential is threatened by NIMBY activists (Not in My Backyard) who oppose CO2 pipelines like that proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions. 

Click here to listen to Helms comments.

Helms said the oil industry will need all the CO2 it can get, but if the state only captures it from existing coal and ethanol plants, there will only be enough CO2 for wells in the main Tier 1 production zone, and none for those outside the core or tapping residual oil zones (ROZ) in conventional wells.

Click here to listen to Helms' comments.

Helms urged those working in the oil industry to support efforts to build CO2 pipelines in North Dakota.

Click here to listen to Helms' comments.

Helms said advances in drilling technology, especially the use of three-mile horizontal laterals, means drilling will continue well into the next decade. The state currently has just over 18,000 producing wells, but Helms estimates another 22,000 will be drilled in the coming years.

The founder of the Faces of North Dakota Coal Facebook group went on the air this week to defend a post that urged people to support efforts to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions.

Mark Pierce, who founded the group aimed at promoting the faces of people who work in the lignite industry, was interviewed by Daryl Lies and Trent Loos on the radio program KFYR Kafé. Pierce's post generated comments from Facebook users who criticized the coal industry and the Faces group for selling out to those promoting "climate change," the efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and federal subsidies aimed at supporting CO2 capture efforts. 

Pierce said he stands behind the post because the coal industry has been undermined by the federally-subsidized wind and solar industries, so it makes sense that the coal industry be willing to accept federal 45Q tax credits that allow it to capture CO2 and remain in operation.

Click here to listen to Pierce's comments.

Loos characterized the coal industry's position to being held for ransom, forcing it to embrace the belief that carbon dioxide is causing climate change or be put out of business. Pierce agreed, but said if the industry doesn't take advantage of the current opportunity, it won't be around long enough to challenge the theory.

Click here to listen to Pierce's comments.

Pierce said resisting efforts to reduce CO2 emissions may make sense when climate science learns more about their effect on the weather, but in the near term the lignite industry must comply with the anti-CO2 dogma in order to survive.

Click here to listen to Pierce's comments.

Click here and advance to the 2:50 mark to listen to the full KFYR Kafé interview with Pierce.

Reports produced by the North Dakota Transmission Authority show a growing need to expand electric transmission capacity in the Bakken and other locations in North Dakota.

In a recent presentation to the ND Industrial Commission, NDTA Director Claire Vigesaa noted that the power load in the Bakken exceeds 1,500 megawatts, with only 1,000 MW of transmission delivery capacity to the area. He said the Bakken is heavily reliant on wind production to make up the 500 MW difference when the wind is blowing, and natural gas-fired peaking plants (Lonesome Creek Station, Pioneer Station and Culbertson Station) when the wind resource is not available.

Vigesaa said two 345-kilovolt transmission projects slated to be operational in 2025 will increase the transmission capacity to 2,000 MW. The projects being developed by Basin Electric include the Roundup to Kummer Ridge 345kV line and the Leland Olds to Tioga 345kV transmission line. Basin is also adding 588 MW of simple cycle gas and gas reciprocating engine generation at the Pioneer Station northwest of Williston.

“These two projects will shore up the system reliability in the region and provide room for some growth as well,” Vigesaa said.

Montana-Dakota Utilities addition of an 88MW simple cycle gas generator will come on line this year at its Heskett location in Mandan. Other projects in the west include two 230kV transmission lines from Tande and Wheelock substations to SASK Power, which are slated for completion in 2027. A transmission project is also under development between Jamestown and Ellendale, as well as a line between Fargo and the Big Stone Power Plant in South Dakota.

Former NDTA director John Weeda also shared concerns with the Industrial Commission about resource adequacy, referring to the recent studies commissioned by NDTA and the regional transmission operators that serve North Dakota – the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

“The studies from MISO and SPP show that weather dependent resources are being counted upon for reserve margins,” Weeda said. “SPP is becoming weather dependent to meet its peak demand by 2026, and by the end of the decade to be weather dependent for over one third of peak demand.”

The NDTA also participated in a study on the impact of the EPA’s proposed Carbon Rule on resource adequacy. 

“The study paints a grim picture of the impacts on the recent EPA regulation pressure,” Weeda said. "The study shows that there will be blackouts.”

Vigesaa and Weeda have also shared their reports with various industry groups and the Public Service Commission, as well as a presentation in August to the interim Energy Development and Transmission Committee. Both MISO and SPP, which were represented at the committee meeting, acknowledged that generation resource adequacy is a very high priority for them, and that the shift from dispatchable generation to intermittent wind and solar is significantly impacting their operations.

"The good news is, North Dakota is united in its message and SPP/MISO are recognizing the issue at hand,” Vigesaa said. “The reality is that although we are incorporating new technologies and renewable energy generation, we need to preserve and maintain a reliable, dispatchable generation portfolio. We call the changes in the electric grid, an energy ‘transformation,’ not a ‘transition.’”

by Michelle Bloodworth | America's Power

Warnings about a pending grid reliability crisis are increasing, and fingers point to the premature retirement of dispatchable electricity resources as the primary threat.  As FERC Commissioner Mark Christie commented a few days ago, the problem is not necessarily the addition of wind and solar to the grid, but rather the retirement of dispatchable resources such as coal and natural gas. Christie asked rhetorically, “Are the lights going to stay on?”  The answer is that no one knows for sure and that’s very troubling.

Despite serious warnings extending back to at least 2019, nothing meaningful has been done yet to head off the crisis. In fact, the situation is becoming worse because not only are an alarming number of coal power plants retiring but they are retiring at a faster pace than many people realize.

America’s Power tracks the status of coal plant retirements that have been announced by plant owners.  These future retirements are based primarily on integrated resource plans filed with utility commissions and public statements by the owners of coal plants. At the same time, we recognize that announced retirement dates are subject to change. Nonetheless, announced coal retirements still provide an indication of the scale and possible timing of retirements and, thus, their potential impacts on grid reliability.  

MISO, PJM and SPP have the largest coal fleets among the ISO/RTOs. Approximately 60 percent of the nation’s entire coal fleet operates within these three regions. MISO and SPP also happen to be regions that are at risk of capacity shortages, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). MISO currently has 49,400 MW of coal capacity, more than half of which is scheduled for retirement by 2028. SPP has 20,800 megawatts of coal capacity, with 6,000 MW set for retirement in the next five years.

To make matters worse, these national and regional figures do not include coal retirements that will be caused by EPA regulations such as the agency’s Good Neighbor Rule and proposed Carbon Rule. We hope that drawing more attention to the pace, not just amount, of retiring coal capacity in the near term will lead FERC, NERC, ISO/RTOs, utility commissioners and EPA to take steps to avoid, or at least minimize, more coal retirements.

Click here to read more.

Basin Electric hit a new all-time-high peak power demand of 4,689 megawatts (MW) in August, surpassing the December 2022 all-time peak by about 10 MW.

Th 2023 all-time summer peak is about 300 MW higher than last summer’s peak, according to J.P. Maddock, Basin Electric manager of Regional Transmission Organization and Delivery Services. The figure surpasses Basin's earlier summer billing peak set in July at 4,586 MW.

It’s more common for Basin Electric to set all-time peaks in the winter rather than summer, according to Maddock, but with the changing load profile across the cooperative footprint, summer all-time billing peaks will likely become more common.

“The August peak is primarily due to hot temperatures across the service area, incremental new sales to members in Minnesota, and new loads throughout the service territory,” Maddock said.

Prior to 2022, the last all-time billing peak that happened in summer occurred in 2013.

Watford City Senator Dale Patten was presented with the ND Petroleum Council's Outstanding Public Service Award during the NDPC annual meeting this week at the Rough Rider Center in Watford City.

Patten has served in the North Dakota Senate since 2019, initially representing District 39, which covered a large area from McKenzie County all the way to Bowman County in the southwestern corner of the state. Redistricting based on the 2020 census shrunk its boundaries, and it is now District 26.

Patten is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and is a member of the Finance and Taxation Committee. He also serves as co-chair of the Clean Sustainable Energy Authority, is a member of the state's Tax Relief Task Force, and serves on several other state boards and committees. Patten also previously served as a McKenzie County Commissioner from 2000 to 2012.

In presenting the award, NDPC President Ron Ness joked about Patten's extensive list of responsibilities after retiring from the banking industry in 2017.

"It appears that Dale has failed miserably at retirement," Ness quipped, "but the reality is that his leadership skills and passion for good policy are still needed in this community and the state of North Dakota and instead of fading into the sunset, he has stepped forward to lead."

Ness cited Patten's "spectacular" record of success after just six years in the legislature. Patten sponsored legislation creating a remote gas capture tax credit, the Clean Sustainable Energy Authority, the royalty ombudsman program, elimination of the oil tax trigger and several others.

In accepting the award, Patten said North Dakota's future didn't look all that bright in the 1980s and 1990s, but that changed with the explosive growth of the oil industry in the early 2000s.

"You have actually made a difference in every person in North Dakota's lives, whether that's road infrastructure, whether it's water infrastructure, whether it's education funding, whether it's property and income tax relief," Patten said. "This all comes back to the oil industry, and you people here have done a great job."

WDEA also recognized Senator Patten for his legislative leadership at its annual meeting in 2021. Click here to read the article.

Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer this week joined their colleagues in pushing back on proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that would impose unworkable mandates and greater costs on manufacturers and energy producers, contributing to higher prices for American consumers.

Specifically, the senators called on the EPA to rescind proposed changes to the particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).

"According to the World Health Organization our nation enjoys some of the cleanest air in the world. The EPA’s own figures report that direct emissions of PM2.5 are down 40 percent from 1990 levels and annual ambient PM2.5 concentrations have decreased 43 percent between 2000 and 2019," the senators wrote. "Considering this progress in improving our air quality and the limited percentage of PM emissions from stationary point sources subject to the relevant regulation, the EPA should heed the advice of experts that it is neither necessary nor advisable to revise the primary annual PM2.5 standard and rescind the proposed reconsideration."

“The EPA’s proposal fails to consider several important factors that will make implementation of a lower annual standard extremely difficult, or in some cases impossible, to no measurable benefits to public health, the environment, or the economy," the letter concludes. "The EPA should not finalize a discretionary reconsideration of a PM2.5 NAAQS that is unattainable and will likely lack an accompanying, detailed implementation plan."

In addition to Hoeven and Cramer, the letter is co-signed by 21 other Republican senators.

Click here to read the full text of the letter.

Governor Doug Burgum congratulated schools in Jamestown, Rugby and Taylor-Richardton this week for being recognized by US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona as 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools.

Schools receiving the Blue Ribbon awards were William S. Gussner Elementary School in Jamestown, Rugby High School and Taylor-Richardton Elementary School in Taylor.

“This prestigious award is a testament to the hard work, enthusiasm and dedication that the students, teachers and administrators at these exceptional schools bring to the classroom every day,” Burgum said. “We are grateful to William S. Gussner Elementary School, Rugby High School and Taylor-Richardton Elementary School for their commitment to excellence that earned them this well-deserved honor, as well as the schools throughout our state that are adopting and applying innovative approaches to teaching and learning.”

Senator John Hoeven also offered his congratulations.

“Through the hard work of students, teachers and faculty, as well as the support of families and their community, these schools in Taylor, Rugby and Jamestown have earned national recognition for their achievements," said Hoeven. "Today, we honor their designation as Blue Ribbon schools and express our gratitude for their investment in the success and well-being of their students."

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. This year, 353 schools in 46 states have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools. 

Click here to learn more about the program. Click here to read more about Taylor's award in the Dickinson Press.

Get the date on your calendar and register soon! The annual meeting of the Western Dakota Energy Association will be held:

October 11-12
Astoria Hotel & Event Center
Dickinson, ND

Registration for the informative and entertaining event is just $125.00, but the earlybird rate will go up to $150.00 after September 30.

The opening day will feature presentations on the current and forecast state of North Dakota oil production, an update on pipeline takeaway capacity, the latest developments in coal, oil and gas research, updates regarding LoadPass Permits, a panel discussion on transportation issues, and a panel discussion on the outlook for the state's oil industry.

Day Two will feature an update on the ND Petroleum Council's effort to recruit workers from Ukraine, a discussion of electric reliability concerns, a panel discussion on education policy and funding issues, a report on development of the Southwest Area Career & Technical Education Academy and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, a report on interim legislative activity, and the latest developments in the Biden administration's War on Fossil Fuels.

The meeting concludes with election of the WDEA Executive Committee, and a vote by delegates on a bylaws amendment to repeal Executive Committee term limits. Board members up for election who are eligible to serve an additional three-year term include Mountrail County Commissioner Trudy Ruland, Bowbells City Councilman Shannon Holter, and Stanley Public School Superintendent Tim Holte. The delegates will also choose two members to fill Executive Committee vacancies created by the resignation of Stanley City Councilman Zach Gaaskjolen and Williams County Commissioner David Montgomery.

The winners of five $1,000 WDEA scholarships will also be announced at the meeting.

Click here to see the tentative agenda. Sponsorships and exhibit space are available. Click here for sponsor/exhibitor opportunities. Click here to register to attend.

by Dorothy Watson | Mental Wellness Center

Multi-state living can be beneficial for business owners, allowing them to concentrate their company in the state with the most favorable conditions while living a good quality of life in another state. That said, maintaining business operations while relocating to North Dakota and splitting time between multiple states can be a logistical challenge. The key to success is careful organization. 

This guide highlights best practices for organizing multi-state living as a business owner and provides some money-saving hacks too.

Find the perfect property to call home in either state

Before you focus on business details, make sure you have the perfect North Dakota property to call home. You’ll also want to research the real estate market in your area. After all, you don’t want to get into a bidding war unprepared! You’ll also need to decide whether you will sell your old home or rent it out. This choice often comes down to whether you will continue living in the home, if even part of the time, and if you have the time necessary to be a landlord. Once you have your house or apartment lined up, equip it with all the necessities you need to live comfortably. Before you buy products for your family home, read product reviews from real-world users online. This will give you unbiased opinions, allowing you to purchase products with confidence.

Decide where to register your business and complete the necessary admin

Once you're situated in your North Dakota home, figure out where you want to register your business. Some states have more favorable terms for companies than others, for example, offering lower tax rates. If you've decided to set up shop in North Dakota, research regulations about forming an LLC in North Dakota, since a limited liability company comes with certain legal protections and tax benefits. A formation company can help you register your business with the state and take care of administrative details, such as picking a registered agent. This is an entity or individual who can receive formal correspondence on your business's behalf, ensuring you never miss notices like government notifications or legal letters.

Embrace technology to help you stay organized as you manage multi-state life

Staying on top of all your business details when you're living across multiple states can be a challenge. There are plenty of cutting-edge tools that can help. SymQuest notes that technology can help you connect multiple business locations, for example. For instance, cloud computing makes it easy to store documents so that you can access them wherever you are. It's also handy to have remote technical support to address any potential IT issues, regardless of where you're located. 

Click here to read more.

The Western Dakota Energy Association will award five $1,000 scholarships this fall to students in an energy-related field at a North Dakota college, university or technical school.

WDEA President Trudy Ruland said the association is offering the scholarships to help the industry and western communities meet the workforce challenges historically experienced with oil industry growth.

“We recognize that North Dakota will see benefits from the oil industry only if it is able to attract the workforce it needs,” said Ruland. “We want to do everything we can to encourage young people to explore the many opportunities for a rewarding career in the energy sector.”

Funding for the scholarship program is generated by sponsorships of WDEA’s annual meeting.

Click here to learn more about the selection criteria and how to apply. Click here to view or download an application form.

The application deadline is September 30. Scholarship winners will be announced at WDEA's annual meeting October 11-12 in Dickinson.

The high-resolution cameras on Wise Roads weather stations always capture vivid colors of North Dakota's outdoors, but they've been especially colorful the past couple weeks as fall colors begin to emerge. This week's shots feature some of the color, along with the view from a new NDAWN weather station on the Canadian border. Images 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.

Thus far, 50 new stations have been installed, 39 of which are located in the four core 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, Four Bears with fall colors partially obscuring a drilling rig in the distance, Sawyer with a photo of colorful trees in the rolling hills nearby, Pioneer with the sun setting nearly due west, and the new NDAWN Peace Garden station with a view of Udall Lake. Click on the link for a high-resolution image.