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Contents 1 Introduction 2 Citizen activism 2.1 Citizen actions 3 Legislative issues 4 USDA approves loan for Antelope Valley CO2 capture 5 Mon-Dak Energy Alliance 6 Great Northern Power Development cancels mine 7 North Dakota Drying Plant to Process New Zealand Coal 8 Proposed coal plants 8.1 Active 8.2 Cancelled 9 Citizen groups 10 Coal lobbying groups 11 Power companies 12 Mining companies 13 Existing coal plants 14 Major coal mines 15 Resources 15.1 References 15.2 Related SourceWatch articles 15.3 External links

Introduction

North Dakota's Fort Union Formation holds major amounts of coal in the center and southwestern parts of the state. To date, coal development has concentrated in central North Dakota along the Missouri River.

On November 10, 2009, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer spoke in Bismark, North Dakota at an energy seminar and said that clean coal technology will help to generate billions in revenue for Montana and North Dakota. Schweitzer also stated that the new coal plants to be built in the states will be "mine to mouth plants", which are different than the older facilities built decades ago throughout the country.^[1]

Citizen activism

Citizen activism on coal issues in North Dakota dates to 1972, with the formation of the United Plainsmen organization. In 1977, citizens in southwest North Dakota organized the Dakota Resource Council, which continues to be active in advocating on behalf of agriculture and the environment in the state. Current coal issues revolve around three areas:

• Strip mine reclamation: Nearly 30 years after passage of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act in 1977, the two largest mines in North Dakota have yet to release any crop land from bond. Applying for bond release is not a requirement of the law, and North Dakota’s policy of “rolling” bonds has removed all the financial incentive for final bond release applications. Not applying for bond release means coal mines never have to prove the land is as productive for farming as it was before mining began, or that there is sufficient water for livestock. Finally, coal mines purchase most of the land they mine, and a lot of other land as well, and have become the largest landowners in the counties where they operate. They show no interest in selling the land back to farmers, an apparent violation of North Dakota's long-standing law against ownership of farmland by corporations.^[2]
• Siting of new coal plants: Several new power plants are currently being considered, including South Heart Power Project, a major synthetic fuels plant.
• Pollution from existing plants: Most of North Dakota’s plants were built before the most recent Clean Air Act amendments and are “grandfathered” at higher emissions rates than would be permissible today. The most dangerous emissions come from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Basin Electric and Minnkota Power Cooperative have recently announced plans to modify the Leland Olds and Milton R. Young plants to reduce SO2 and NOX emissions. However, these projects will not be completed for several years.^[3]

Citizen actions

• In October 2008, attorneys for the Dakota Resource Council wrote a letter to the federal Office of Surface Mining, seeking to block construction of a proposed coal drying plant in southwestern North Dakota. The Public Service Commission had previously decided a mining permit was not necessary, which the DRC contends is a violation of state and federal regulations. GTL Energy is developing the plant to remove the water content of lignite coal in order to increase its energy value.^[4]

Legislative issues

In 1995, the North Dakota lignite industry succeeded in convincing the North Dakota legislature to pass a law forbidding the Public Service Commission from considering the cost of “externalities” (including a possible tax on carbon dioxide) in power plant permitting decisions.^[5]

In 2007 Minnesota announced that it would add a "carbon fee" to electricity imports from North Dakota (similar to a tax or tariff) of between $4 to $32 per ton of carbon dioxide emitted by the state's coal-fired power plants, to begin in 2012. In early January 2010 North Dakota announced it was in the process of taking legal action against Minnesota, arguing that the law would unfairly tax electricity imports from North Dakota's coal-fired power plants. .^[6]

USDA approves loan for Antelope Valley CO₂ capture

In January 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a loan of up to $300 million to Basin Electric Power Cooperative for the development of a demonstration project to capture carbon dioxide emissions at its Antelope Valley Station in Mercer County. Basin Electric is partnering with Powerspan Corp. and Burns & McDonnell to demonstrate CO₂ removal from the flue gas of a lignite-based boiler. The project would capture about a million tons of CO₂ per year from part of the plant's exhaust stream and send it to oil fields along the pipeline used by the plant.^[7]

In July 2009, the project received up to $100 million from the Department of Energy's Clean Coal Power Initiative.^[8]

Mon-Dak Energy Alliance

Energy representatives announced in March 2009 that Montana and North Dakota would come together to discuss the potential for future energy development between the two states. Known as the Mon-Dak Energy Alliance, which is made up of oil, gas and mining operators in the two states, have proposed to build a topping plant that would develop up to 22,000 barrels of crude oil per day. In addition, once completed, the facility will include an oil refinery, ethanol plant, bio-diesel, wind farm and a coal-to-liquids conversation center.^[9]

On December 8, 2009 fundraising for the project began. Initial costs to build the facility are $180-200 million dollars. Construction of the plant, to be built between Williston, North Dakota and Sidney, Montana, may begin as early as summer 2010.^[10]

Great Northern Power Development cancels mine

In March, 2009, Great Northern Power Development withdrew its application for a new coal mine near South Heart, North Dakota. The company said it acted in response to a complaint filed at the North Dakota Public Service Commission by Plains Justice on behalf of Dakota Resource Council and local landowners. The complaint challenged the construction of a new coal preparation plant.^[11]

The complaint was filed against GTL Energy for failing to obtain a coal mining permit before starting to build a coal preparation plant near South Heart. State and federal law define coal preparations plants as “surface mining operations” when they are associated with a mine. The proposed plant, which has been under construction since October 2008, would be adjacent to the proposed South Heart coal mine, which has a mining permit pending, and is expected to treat coal from the mine.^[11]

North Dakota Drying Plant to Process New Zealand Coal

A new drying plant in southwestern North Dakota operated by GTL Energy USA Ltd will remove water from over 1 million pounds of coal transported from New Zealand. The plant will remove water from the low-quality but abundant lignite coal and then ship it back to its country of origin. The plant is designed to process 240,000 tons of lignite annually. It is the first commercial coal-drying facility in the world.^[12]

Proposed coal plants

Active

• American Lignite Energy
• Gascoyne 500 Project
• GTL Energy (USA) Limited, Coal Beneficiation Facility
• Milton Young 3
• South Heart Power Project
• Spiritwood Industrial Park (under construction)

Cancelled

• Gascoyne 175 Project

Citizen groups

• Dakota Resource Council
• Dakotah Chapter of the Sierra Club

Coal lobbying groups

• Energy Council
• Partners for Affordable Energy

Power companies

• Basin Electric Power Cooperative
  • Headquarters in Bismarck, ND
  • 29th biggest coal energy producer in U.S.
  • Controls 7 coal-fired generating stations with 3236 MW total capacity
  • Active proposals: NextGen Energy Facility, Dry Fork Station
• MDU Resources Group
  • Headquarters in Bismarck, ND
  • Controls 3 coal-fired generating stations with 165 MW total capacity
  • Active proposals: Milton Young 3
• Minnkota Power Cooperative
  • Headquarters in Grand Forks, ND
  • Controls 2 coal-fired generating stations with 734 MW total capacity
• Dakota Gasification Company
  • Headquarters in Beulah, ND

Mining companies

• Dakota Coal Company
• BNI Coal Ltd.
• Falkirk Mining Company
• Westmoreland Coal Company

Existing coal plants

North Dakota has 15 coal-fired generating units totalling 4246 megawatts (MW).^[13]

Click on the locations shown on the North Dakota map for plant details:

Ten of these units are larger than 50 MW.^[1]

• Antelope Valley - 870 MW
• Coal Creek - 1212 MW - 1979,
• Coyote - 450 MW - 1981
• Heskett - 115 MW
• Leland Olds - 656 MW - 1966, 1975
• Milton R. Young - 734 MW - 1971, 1977
• Stanton - 190 MW - 1967

Major coal mines

• Beulah Mine, Westmoreland Coal Company
• Center Mine, BNI Coal Ltd
• Falkirk Mine, Falkirk Mining Company
• Freedom Mine, Coteau Properties Co.

Resources

References

1. ↑ Power Plants in North Dakota, accessed May 2008

Related SourceWatch articles

• Existing U.S. Coal Plants
• US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
• Coal plants cancelled in 2007
• Coal plants cancelled in 2008
• Externalities laws and summary
• Great Northern Properties
• South Heart Power Project
• Profiles of other states (or click on the map)

External links

• North Dakota Coal Profile, Energy Information Administration
• Power Plants in North Dakota
• Major U.S. Coal Mines, Energy Information Administration
• "More Federal Coal Eyed by Energy Companies", Bismarck Tribune, July 27, 2008.
• Dakota Energy, blog
• ND Energy Legislation, blog
• Wind rights, blog