US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette stressed the importance of fossil fuels to the nation's economy during a roundtable discussion with state officials and energy industry leaders this week in Minot.

Brouillette, along with Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer and Governor Doug Burgum, listened to the concerns of oil, gas, coal and utility representatives as they described difficulties they're facing related to the coronavirus pandemic and federal policies that favor renewable energy.

In a news conference following the event, Brouillette said the best way to improve prices for crude oil is opening up the economy.

Click here to listen to Brouillette's comments.

Brouillette said Americans need to be reminded of the inextricable link between reliable, affordable energy, the strength of the US economy and national security.

Click here to listen to Brouillette's comments.

The reliability of baseload coal generation and the planned shutdown of Coal Creek Station were major topics during the coal industry roundtable. Brouillette said government needs to address the financial problems created by subsidized competition and the failure to compensate coal plants for reliability.

Click here to listen to Brouillette's comments.

Brouillette said the fossil fuel industry needs to push back hard against unrealistic proposal such as the Green New Deal. He said such proposals would make the nation's struggling economy much worse.

Click here to listen to Brouillette's comments.

Senator Hoeven agreed with Brouillette's concerns about the potential loss of baseload generation. He said California's rolling blackouts could be life threatening in a place like North Dakota.

Click here to listen to Hoeven's comments.

Senator Cramer echoed Hoeven's remarks as they relate to Great River Energy's plans to shutdown Coal Creek Station, which he said could lead to blackouts in Minnesota.

Click here to listen to Cramer's comments.

Cramer said policy makers need to act soon to address the premature shutdown of baseload coal and nuclear plants. He said natural gas alone cannot provide sufficient backup generation because it's also used to heat homes and power factories, which combined with opposition to new pipelines by environmental extremist groups, will lead to supply shortages.

Read more about Brouillette's visit in the Bismarck Tribune and the Minot Daily News. Click here to listen to Rob Port's analysis and his interview with Brouilette on the Fargo Forum website.

A tariff pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may place limits on the heat content of natural gas in the Northern Border Pipeline.

Justin Kringstad, director of the ND Pipeline Authority, told members of the ND Industrial Commission this week that the tariff would allow Northern Border to reject any gas that exceeds 1,100 BTU per cubic foot. That could be a problem for North Dakota producers because natural gas produced in North Dakota is rich in ethane and other natural gas liquids. Kringstad said the gas must be processed to remove those NGLs to reduce its heat content to the 1,100 BTU level.

North Dakota gas now makes up about 80 percent of the total moving through the Northern Border Pipeline, and "signs are pointing toward North Dakota being almost the exclusive shipper in the next three to six years," Kringstad said. He said achieving the 1,100 BTU threshold would require the removal of additional 80,000 bbl/day of ethane by the year 2027.

Industry sources say the ideal heat content for natural gas is between 950 and 1,100 BTU/cubic foot. Gas that burns hotter can damage appliances and other equipment that burn it. Kringstad said Northern Border interconnects with several downstream pipelines that limit heat content to 1,100 BTU or less.

"The downstream folks are concerned that North Dakota's gas is getting too hot," Kringstad said. "The marketability and safety issues downstream are what's driving pressure on Northern Border to implement the tariff change."

North Dakota may have a little time to adapt if FERC approves the new tariff. Kringstad said the change would not be immediate because the tariff would be phased in, starting at 1,155, stepping down to 1,140 and eventually down to 1,100. He said the near-term solution is balancing the hotter gas going into the pipeline with dryer gas that has had most of its liquids removed. Kringstad said one other possibility he's exploring that could provide opportunity to electric generators is injecting hydrogen gas in the pipeline.

Click here to listen to Kringstad's comments.

Kringstad said hydrogen can be relatively easily and cheaply produced through the process of electrolysis, and he said only a small amount is needed to effectively reduce the BTU content of natural gas. He said the Energy and Environmental Research Center previously conducted research into using wind energy to produce hydrogen, and may want to re-initiate its study.

There is currently no market for ethane in North Dakota, but Kringstad said there are possibilities of using it to generate electricity. He said the state is also actively recruiting the petrochemical industry, which would use large amounts of ethane to produce plastics and other materials.

Click here to see Kringstad's slide presentation.

Thanks in part to the fact the state's general fund is not directly dependent on a lot of oil tax dollars, North Dakota's current general fund balance is running $104 million ahead of forecast. However, those numbers may be changing, according to state OMB Director Joe Morrissette, who provided a status report to the legislature's interim Government Finance Committee this week.

Morrissette said oil tax revenue is down sharply, but because only a small portion is directly deposited in the general fund, overall revenue still shows a positive balance. He said legislators who are members of the state Budget Section committee will hear a different forecast when they meet on September 17.

Click here to listen to Morrissette's comments.

Morrissette said preliminary numbers discussed by the budget advisory committee suggest that sales tax collections the remainder of the biennium may be about 15 percent lower than expected.

Oil tax revenue collected through July 31 totals $2.036 billion, which is more than $367 million below the forecast that is based on 1.4 million bbl/day production and $48.50/bbl. Morrissette said the state's Legacy Fund had been averaging about a $57 million deposit every month pre-pandemic, but the July deposit was only about $9 million.

Click here to see Morrissette's slide presentation which shows revenue collected in various categories.

Two North Dakota legislators say it's too easy to amend the state constitution, and are lending their voice to the campaign in support of Measure Two.

Rep. Kim Koppelman, R-Fargo, said until recently the state's constitutional initiative process was working as it should. But he said it is now being abused by well-financed out-of-state special interest groups. Koppelman said the controversy surrounding comments from voters who signed the Measure 3 petition is a case in point.

Click here to listen to Koppelman's comments.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 4001 requires that an initiated constitutional measure approved by voters be submitted to the next session of the legislature. If lawmakers do not approve the measure, it will be placed on the ballot again, and, if approved by voters a second time, it would become effective.

Koppelman said the measure would ensure the public understands the issue on the ballot.

Click here to listen to Koppelman's comments.

The measure was sponsored by Senator David Hogue, R-Minot, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hogue said the legislative hearing process that would be created by Measure Two is similar to the process in other states.

Click here to listen to Hogue's comments.

Some have called the measure a power grab by the legislature, but both lawmakers said it doesn't give the legislature any additional power. It simply requires public hearings before the legislature if a constitutional measure is approved by voters. If the legislature approves, the measure goes into the constitution. If it's rejected, citizens will be asked to vote on the measure again, armed with the facts.

Koppelman and Hogue were interviewed on the radio program What's on Your Mind. Click here and advance to the 30:45 mark to listen to the full interview. Click here to read commentary on Measure 2 from Rob Port and the SayAnything Blog.

An additional safety corridor was introduced this week on a section of Highway 83 from Bismarck to Washburn.

Safety corridors were introduced last summer on two sections of state highways by the ND Department of Transportation. The corridors include enhanced safety features and an increase in law enforcement to remind drivers they are responsible for obeying all traffic laws and posted speed limits.

“Safety corridors are one way for all of us to reach the goal of Vision Zero,” said NDDOT Director Bill Panos. “By changing dangerous driving behavior and taking personal responsibility behind the wheel, we can ultimately reduce the number of crashes on state highways to zero.

Drivers traveling within a safety corridor may notice additional signage indicating reduced speed, no-passing zones, information about road conditions, and reminders to buckle up, drive sober, and distraction free. In addition to signs, pavement markings will be more visible, especially in dark or wet conditions. Safety corridors remain in place on a section of Highway 85 from Watford City to ND 68, and a section of Highway 52 from Brooks Junction to Velva. Click here for more info on safety corridors.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation announced today that the public input comment period for the Williston Northeast Truck Reliever Route has been extended through September 18.

An August 31 virtual hearing presented information and requested public input and comments on the environmental assessment for the proposed project from Highway 1804 east of Williston to the intersection of Highway 2 and Highway 85.

NDDOT encourages the public to provide input and comments through several avenues which includes phone calls, emails and letters. View the recorded presentation at this link.

Comments may be sent to Jennifer Hanley, PE, Ulteig Engineers, 3350 38th Ave S, Fargo, ND 58104 or at jennifer.hanley@ulteig.com with “Virtual Public Hearing” in the subject heading. For questions, help submitting comments, or to request hard copy materials, contact Hanley at 701-280-8582.

The environmental assessment is available for review by appointment at the NDDOT Williston District Office, Williston Community Library, Williston City Hall, Williams County office, Federal Highway Administration building in Bismarck and at the information desk of the NDDOT Central Office.

Click here to see the agenda. Registration details will be issued soon.

Gov. Doug Burgum announced changes this week to the COVID-19 risk levels for 21 of North Dakota’s 53 counties, stressing the need to reverse the state’s upward trend of active cases and positive test rate.

Eight counties – Barnes, Benson, Burleigh, Grand Forks, McLean, Morton, Stark and Williams – are moving from the low risk level (green) to the moderate risk level (yellow) under the ND Smart Restart color-coded health guidance. These counties currently account for 64 percent of North Dakota’s 2,437 active cases, Burgum said.

Burgum said moving counties to the moderate risk level serves two purposes: 1) to decrease transmissible moments, giving the virus less opportunities to spread and 2) to raise awareness and communicate to North Dakotans that an elevated risk level exists and there are simple steps they can take to slow the spread. Health officials recommend:

“These are the things that need to happen if we want to keep schools open, to keep businesses open and back to operating at 100%, and most importantly, if we want to protect the most vulnerable among us,” Burgum said. "The goal all along has been to protect the most vulnerable and keep things open – to save lives and livelihoods – and we need everyone to be in the fight and be responsible."

Thirteen counties are moving from the low risk level to the “new normal,” or blue risk level: Billings, Cavalier, Divide, Foster, Griggs, LaMoure, Mercer, McIntosh, Nelson, Renville, Traill, Walsh and Wells.

For counties moving from low risk to moderate risk, the recommendation for capacity in bars and restaurants decreases from 75 percent to 50 percent and the recommendation for large gatherings would decrease from 75 percent occupancy up to 500 attendees, to 50 percent occupancy up to 250 attendees.

For more information on North Dakota’s COVID-19 response, visit ndresponse.gov.

Improving roadway safety throughout McKenzie County is the goal of a study team, and in order to develop an effective plan, public input is needed.

The newly developed roadway safety survey is an important tool to gather input from county residents, those who work in the county as well as those who travel through the county. 

The survey is map-based and will allow participants to find specific locations with a safety concern, identify it with a marker, and then provide a description about the concern. The survey will be available until September 30. Note that input will be kept completely confidential. 

The final County Road Safety Plan will make specific recommendations to enhance roadway safety throughout the county. For more information, click here. To take the survey, click here. 

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 Shannon Holter 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 Holter. “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, as well as royalties from advertising in Basin Bits magazine.

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 18, 2020. Scholarship winners will be announced in October.

Source: Project Tundra website

September 16 

Energy Development and Transmission Committee