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…
New Amendment Could Reignite Fight in Legislature Over Wind Energy
The joke among lawmakers this legislative session is that the wind energy industry, exercised by legislation aimed at undermining some of advantages they’ve been given in the law, has been stimulating the economy of Bismarck with the number of lobbyists they’ve parachuted in to work at the session. And the fight isn’t over yet. It’s…
The Stanton Station coal-fired power plant operated by Great River Energy. It is scheduled to be shut down in May of 2017. Photo via Great River Energy
Connie Krapp: At What Cost Wind and Not Coal?
Last week, Great River Energy announced it will shut down its coal-based Stanton Station power plant. If nothing changes in our federal government’s approach to electricity supply, we in North Dakota can expect more coal plants to go down—and more wind farms to go up. But before we bless another wind farm in this state,…
John Andrist: The Wind Blows, Silent And Invisible
If you are a loud mouth you can say anything stupid, and people just nod their heads.
Steve Van Dyke: Seven Things To Know About North Dakota's Energy Landscape
The oil boom has created a large need for more electricity in North Dakota and also in Montana and South Dakota – areas typically served by North Dakota’s coal-based power plants. A 2012 study conducted by Kadrmas, Lee and Jackson for the North Dakota Industrial Commission shows that North Dakota will need an additional 2000…
Fun Earth Day Fact: Renewable Energy Was Just 7.8% Of American Power Last Year, And That's Down From…1949
Earth Day is tomorrow, and here’s something that might blow your mind as you read the stories about our allegedly impending global warming apocalypse and the efforts to head it off. “Renewable energy (including hydropower) provided only 7.8% of energy consumed in the US last year,” writesUniversity of Michigan Professor of Economics Mark Perry. “That…
Goss Column: Green Energy Alternatives Hit The Poor Hard
Between 2008 and 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans making less than $20,000 increased the share of their paycheck going to cover utility and fuel bills from 25% to 29%. During this same period of time, Americans earning more than $70,000 decreased the proportion of their income spent on utilities and fuel…
Major Minnesota Wind Project On The Verge Of Collapse
A major Minnesota wind project which initially saw investment from billionaire T. Boone Pickens before being sold to New Era is on the ropes. “New Era has no confidence that due process for this project will ever end, nor that an ABPP (Avian and Bat Protection Plan) will ever be approved, however comprehensively and carefully…
Off-Shore Wind Power Companies Collecting More In Federal Subsidies Than They Pay In Federal Royalties
The Obama administration spends a lot of its time sandbagging and attacking fossil-fuel energy development while spending a lot of tax dollars promoting so-called “green” energy. This is little better, from a moral standpoint, than picking and choosing which groups or individuals will get audited by the IRS based on their political ideology, but I…
North Dakotans Got An Early Preview Of Obama's Politics By Any Means Necessar
Each day it seems we’re treated – if that’s the right word for it – to a new and depressing headline about mistreatment of conservative groups and individuals by the IRS. We’ve not yet plumbed the depths of the scandal, but already it seems to be one of the most shocking and fundamentally offensive domestic…