There was positive movement this week on three bills that we are supporting and tracking this session. House Bill 1066 (Nathe), known as Project Prairie Dog, passed the Senate 46-0 yesterday. This bill funds infrastructure projects with oil and gas tax revenue in areas outside of North Dakota’s oil patch. The proposal would add additional “buckets” for city, county, township and airport infrastructure funds, while adjusting the state’s Gross Production Tax in shifting streams of oil and gas tax revenue. A provision is included for $10 million to the Lignite Research Fund to help fund R&D projects. This will help our industry continue to pursue innovative ways to provide value added opportunities for lignite. The bill is now in the hands of Governor Doug Burgum to decide if the bill will become law.
Senate Bill 2044 (Myrdal) Critical Infrastructure Protection bill passed out the House Energy and Natural Resources committee with a 10-1 vote after being amended to clarify that tampering with or damaging a critical infrastructure facility would not apply employee or contractor acting within the scope of the employee’s or contractor’s employment. This bill now heads to the House floor for further consideration.
Overall, this legislation would increase criminal penalties against people who willfully trespass or enter property containing a critical infrastructure facility without permission by the owner of the property. It would also hold a person liable for any damages to personal or real property while trespassing and prescribe criminal penalties for organizations conspiring with the people who are proven responsible by the courts. Of interest for LEC members is that the bill includes provisions to protect an electrical power generating facility, substation, switching station, electrical control or electric power line and associated equipment infrastructure.
Senate Bill 2061 (Kruen) includes a provision for a legislative study for the development of an electric vehicle infrastructure network in North Dakota. This bill passed the House 72-17 with provisions that were amended after it passed over from the Senate. Due to those changes, there will be a conference committee to sort out of the differences in the near future.
The legislative study would bring together a coalition that includes the Department of Transportation, Electric Utilities and Electric Vehicle Stakeholder groups to help design a jointly owned public and private network of electric vehicle infrastructure to support both commercial and noncommercial vehicles and make recommendations regarding electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The study includes the evaluation of the relative costs and benefits associated with various options for electric vehicle infrastructure support and estimate the future annual economic impact.
The Lignite Energy Council is supportive of electric vehicles (EV’s) because they are an emerging market opportunity for our industry. Currently, around 70% of electricity in North Dakota is provided by lignite, so electric vehicles owned and operated here are mostly powered by coal. There are many industry demand forecasts that show EV’s will gain a larger market share of vehicles on the road over the next ten years and the major automobile manufacturers have announced that they are currently shifting resources within their manufacturing facilities to produce more EV models in the next 2-3 years. As more EV’s are adopted in the marketplace, they will grow demand for lignite-based electricity and help smooth out the ramping of lignite plants over 24 hour cycles due to the amount of energy they require to operate.
Currently, there are very few electric vehicle charging stations across the state to allow for ease of travel and many unanswered questions on how to best address this situation. The study will help stakeholders develop solutions to allow an electric utility to be able to operate or sell power at a public charging station, design the application process that would take place with the Public Service Commission and propose how an utility electricity network would work for EV owners to travel across the state and charge at truck stops. The study would take place over the interim with recommendations made to the legislature during the 2021 session.