Burgum, Sanford laud historic sale of Coal Creek Station, transmission line to Rainbow Energy, Nexus Line
State agencies, legislation played key role in sale that keeps coal-fired plant operating, saving 650 jobs and preserving reliable baseload generation
Gov. Doug Burgum and Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford on Monday highlighted the benefits of reliable, affordable baseload coal power and innovative technologies such as carbon capture as they joined officials and workers at Coal Creek Station to celebrate the finalized sale of the coal-fired power plant and a related high-voltage transmission line.
Minnesota-based Great River Energy (GRE) sold the 1,151-megawatt power plant – North Dakota’s largest – to Rainbow Energy Center LLC, and sold the transmission system that runs from central North Dakota to Minnesota to Nexus Line LLC. Rainbow Energy Center and Nexus Line are both affiliates of Bismarck-based Rainbow Energy Marketing Corp. The sale was completed Monday.
“This is truly a landmark day and a huge win for the 650 workers here at Coal Creek and Falkirk Mine, for the residents of McLean County, for the entire state of North Dakota and for U.S. energy security and electrical grid reliability,” Burgum said. “By preserving the reliable, affordable electricity that coal provides while also incorporating renewable power and innovative carbon capture, storage and utilization, this project will be a model of clean baseload power for the world. We’re deeply grateful to Loren Kopseng, Stacy Tschider and the entire team at Rainbow Energy for their risk-taking entrepreneurship that made this sale possible, as well as all of the local, state and federal officials and agencies who drove this deal across the finish line.”
“It was a tense seven months from when GRE shared its plant closure plans with employees until Rainbow came along with serious interest in buying the plant,” Sanford recalled. “This sale took time and an incredible level of commitment from many dedicated people, and it wouldn’t be possible without the innovation by state government, reasonable regulation of coal plants, becoming the first state in the nation to achieve primacy to permit a Class VI injection well, and world-class carbon capture research and commercialization right here in North Dakota. The benefits of this sale will be felt far and wide, most importantly by the Coal Creek and Falkirk workers and their families and the customers who benefit from a stable electrical grid in North Dakota, Minnesota and beyond. We’re thankful to the industry, the state Legislature and our congressional delegation for continuing to find a viable path forward for North Dakota’s abundant lignite coal.”
Burgum and Sanford began working with GRE to facilitate a sale of Coal Creek Station to a third-party operator even before GRE announced in May 2020 its plans to close the Underwood plant during the second half of 2022. Burgum announced on March 25, 2021, that GRE was in exclusive negotiations to sell Coal Creek Station and the transmission system. The pending sale to Rainbow Energy Center and Nexus Line was announced June 30, 2021.
Burgum helps mark milestone for Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project in Minot
Governor tours completed Phase MI-1 of project, highlights $838M state commitment to comprehensive flood protection for Souris River Valley
Gov. Burgum on Friday joined local, state and federal officials in Minot for a tour and ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of Phase MI-1, the Fourth Avenue North floodwall phase of the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project (MREFPP), highlighting the state’s significant investment in the project.
“Timely completion of flood protection is critical for the long-term safety, prosperity and growth of the Minot region. We’re grateful to all of the local, state and federal partners who worked together to secure funding and complete this phase of this project, which is key to safeguarding Minot residents against the type of devastating flooding they endured in 2011,” Burgum said. “With total commitments of $838 million in state funding from the Legislature, State Water Commission and Department of Emergency Services, the MREFPP is well on its way to providing comprehensive protection against catastrophic flooding in the Souris River Valley for generations to come.”
The Phase MI-1 4th Avenue project includes more than 2,250 feet of floodwalls, earthen levees, two removable closure structures in the floodwall and a stormwater pump station.
Burgum, who chairs the Water Commission, also participated in a meeting on project financing with officials including U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, Minot Mayor Shaun Sipma, North Dakota Department of Water Resources Director Andrea Travnicek and Souris River Joint Board Chairman Dave Ashley, among others.
Governor, Main Street Initiative team visit Minot
Gov. Burgum and representatives of the Main Street Initiative (MSI) team from the Governor's Office and the North Dakota Department of Commerce visited Minot Friday for a Main Street Visit.
The visit began with a tour of the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Plan with a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of the MI-1 phase.
Following the tour, Burgum and the MSI team were invited to a luncheon to discuss funding with city and project leaders at Minot City Hall. After the luncheon, the visit then included a community tour organized by the Minot Downtown Business and Professional Association and the Minot Area Chamber Economic Development Corporation.
“Community tours provide a meaningful opportunity to explore and appreciate the steps our North Dakota communities take toward smart, efficient infrastructure investments and their efforts to keep their community healthy and vibrant,” Burgum said. “Minot has several key examples of strategic, diligent infill projects and progress to curate a lively and prosperous downtown.”
The visit concluded with a 35-person community roundtable discussion that was organized by the MSI team and hosted by Burgum which involved community leaders, educators, policymakers, state officials, business leaders, law enforcement and military members, and others. Burgum cited the four principles of the Main Street Initiative: healthy, vibrant communities; smart, efficient infrastructure; skilled workforce: and economic diversification.
“If we’re going to be successful, reach our fullest potential, help support families and children, then we’ve got to have healthy, vibrant communities,” Burgum said during the roundtable discussion, noting the state has an estimated 30,000-plus open jobs and is focusing on workforce and innovative education to ensure students are prepared for college, career or the military. “We want to make sure that our young people have choices — that if you live in North Dakota, if you grow up here, if you want to choose between one of those three choices, we’re going to have the education pathways to help you do it.”
More than 50 residents and leaders joined the roundtable discussion at Minot Central Campus High School to listen and hear from both leaders and residents about Minot’s tremendous progress as a community. Topics included youth activities and engagement, business development and workforce needs.
Approximately 200 students representing grades 9-12 and higher education also joined in on the discussion to express their ideas and needs to keep the students involved in the community.
“We are grateful for Minot Central Campus and Magic City High School for providing a facility and coordinating students to attend the roundtable discussion," Burgum said. “We highly value the voices and input of our youth, as they are the future residents who will ensure North Dakota continues creating vibrant communities with a thriving economy.”
The Main Street Visit in Minot is one of several community visits planned for the MSI team to engage with communities across North Dakota. More information about upcoming visits will be announced as details become available.
Grand Farm announces future site of Innovation Facility in Casselton
On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Sanford attended the announcement that Grand Farm's Innovation Facility will be located in Casselton. Grand Farm and the Casselton Economic Development jointly announced the future site of the facility.
Since its launch in 2019, Grand Farm has been operating and deploying ag tech projects on donated acreage south of Fargo. With continual expansion of projects and research, Grand Farm officials determined that constructing an Innovation Facility on their own acreage would best allow them to continue their impact in agriculture technology innovation.
Grand Farm’s Innovation Facility will be intentionally designed to be a continually adapting, demonstration and innovation space that will stay at the forefront of agriculture technology innovation. It will provide expanded acreage for the deployment of additional ag tech projects, rapid prototyping capabilities, and increased research capacity.
In February, the North Dakota Department of Commerce announced it had selected Grand Farm as a recipient of the department’s Autonomous Agriculture Technology Matching Grant. The $10 million grant was created with funding from the 67th Legislative Assembly to encourage and support the advancement of autonomous farming technology by awarding a 1:1 match of funding for the deployment of an innovation facility, project management for complex North Dakota-based and global autonomous agricultural concepts, and workforce initiatives to upskill the autonomous agriculture workforce with qualified professionals to ensure advanced farming techniques.
Burgum presents strategic budget guidelines for 2023-2025 biennium
Gov. Burgum on Thursday presented his strategic budget guidelines for the 2023-2025 biennium, highlighting the need for continued innovation, cost containment and efficiencies in state government as well as additional investment in employee compensation to address a highly competitive workforce environment and the highest inflation in more than 40 years.
While state general fund revenues for the current biennium are running 13.1%, or over $200 million, ahead of forecast, Burgum emphasized that the state will continue to take a conservative approach to budgeting.
“While we have made great strides in enhancing services for North Dakota citizens, our recently completed strategy reviews identified additional opportunities to make government more efficient and effective by embracing technology and automation, improving processes and cutting red tape,” Burgum said. “Through this budgeting process, we will continue to focus on reinvention and reallocating resources to high-performing, high return-on-investment programs while building a budget that focuses on outcomes and strategy-based initiatives.”
The Governor’s Office and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) began the strategy review process with state agencies in January. Agencies were asked to focus on outcomes and opportunities for collaboration across multiple agencies to create more value for citizens.
The budget guidelines call for agencies to calculate their base budget requests on their current 2021-23 appropriation, while subtracting one-time appropriations and adding the costs to continue legislatively authorized salary increases and new programs phased in during the current biennium.
“Agencies will have the opportunity to submit optional packages that provide building blocks for comprehensive executive budget proposals that will cut across multiple agencies and address broad priorities such as workforce, automation and infrastructure," OMB Director Joe Morrissette said. ”This will allow us to bring the proposals together and focus on outcomes across state government.”
Burgum noted that Job Service North Dakota reported 19,574 online job listings in April, an increase of almost 10% over March and up 19.4% – nearly 3,200 jobs – from the same month one year ago. Like the private sector, state government faces challenges in recruiting and retaining employees and filling open positions in the highly competitive labor market, he said.
“To continue to deliver outstanding service to North Dakota citizens, we must continue to attract and retain high-performing team members. State government must be competitive. We must be an employer of choice,” Burgum said. “Our executive budget proposal will include a comprehensive, competitive rewards and compensation package, as Team ND members continue to be our most valuable resource.”
National Guard helicopters assist with fire suppression, dam stabilization
Gov. Burgum authorized North Dakota National Guard helicopters to assist in two emergencies last week.
First, in response to a request from the Burlington fire chief to assist with a fire associated with a train derailment, the governor authorized the National Guard to launch a single UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with a 600-gallon water bucket to assist in fire suppression. The aircraft departed from Bismarck.
Less than 48 hours later, Burgum authorized the Guard to dispatch two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to place one-ton sandbags to help stabilize the Bourbanis Dam upstream of Cavalier in Pembina County. The helicopters placed a total of 213 sandbags over two days.
Then, on Friday, the Minnesota National Guard also responded to an Emergency Management Assistance Compact request from North Dakota, providing a Chinook helicopter that strategically placed two 5-ton water pumps capable of pumping 4,000 gallons per minute to relieve pressure on the dam.
Read more about these remarkable efforts in the North Dakota National Guard's newsletter, the TAG Line, by clicking the button below.
Registration for the Governor's Summit on Innovative Education is now open!
The FREE event will continue to focus on innovative instructional best practices to personalize learning, as well as other community-derived solutions to best prepare young people for the 21st century economy and citizenship.
Reserve your seat today at the link below:
Boards and Commissions openings
Currently, there are 48 boards or commissions openings accepting applications.
Boards and Commissions is made up of North Dakota citizens appointed to represent their community and peers as they help influence policies and programs that play an instrumental and invaluable role to help Empower People, Improve Lives and Inspire Success.
The Governor appoints to over 150 Boards and Commissions representing a wide variety of industries.
To be considered for an appointment candidates are invited to complete the application located below.
Main Street Initiative Survey
The North Dakota Main Street team is excited to begin planning visits for 2022 and beyond. We genuinely look forward to the opportunity to meet with MSI communities again and catch up on the progress and reflect on the challenges brought in 2020 and 2021.
To help us identify potential community visits, we ask you to complete a brief survey in order for us to plan a successful year!