Coal production in North Dakota is proving far more resilient than the rest of the nation. Continue reading…
This guest post was submitted by Jason Bohrer, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lignite Energy Council. In October, David Ferris, a reporter with E&E News came through North Dakota driving an electric KIA. He stopped in Bismarck and used the charger in the back of the Lignite Energy Council to repower the batteries…
Last month at one of the debates held for the crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates, supposedly moderate front runner Joe Biden said there would be no place in his administration for oil and coal. Biden on whether or not there would be a place for fossil fuels including coal and fracking in his administration:…
In the Minot Daily News over the weekend was a remarkable letter from a leader in the North Dakota Democratic-NPL which derided our state’s coal industry. Brad Magnuson, chairman of his party’s Renewable Energy Caucus, says “Long term, coal is not a viable source of energy.” “Short term, until renewables become exclusive in North Dakota, coal is…
MINOT, N.D. — “Xcel Energy plans to shutter its two remaining coal plants in the Upper Midwest a decade earlier than scheduled — a move that will make the utility coal-free in the region by 2030,” Mary Divine reported for the St. Paul Pioneer Press this week. That’s big news. All the more so because it’s…
This week a headline about coal ash contaminating groundwater in North Dakota and other states probably caught your attention. And for good reason. Even the most ardent supporter of coal mining and coal-fired energy is no doubt opposed to a byproduct of that process contaminating our water. But one didn’t need to read too far…
This guest post was submitted by Jason Bohrer, President and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council. During the Polar Vortex 2019, otherwise known in North Dakota as a “cold snap”, it’s a great time to talk about three concepts: reliability, dispatchability and resilience. Reliability is related to the ability of a power source to be…
The Obama administration hated coal power. The former president’s detractors referred to his policy agenda in this policy area as a “war on coal,” and that wasn’t an exaggeration. The so-called Clean Power Plan, among other policies, seemed organized more around an ideological objection to coal energy from coal than any desire for workable regulations…
To hear some environmental activists put it, you’d think North Dakota were an industrial wasteland where energy industry titans are allowed to pollute the land and air with impunity. Those of us who actually live here can see that lie for what it is with our own eyes. Our state has a proud tradition, stretching…
Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, did a big favor for states like ours that use coal to generate electricity. His recent decision to repeal the Clean Power Plan lifted a massive regulation from our state’s economy, sparing our industries and households the effects from a weakened power grid, higher power prices and the…
