07/21/2022 – Lignite Line | Lignite Energy Council

Annual Meeting registration, exhibitor booths, and sponsorships launched

The Lignite Energy Council is excited to announce the Lignite Energy Council’s 49th Annual Meeting taking place at the Bismarck Event Center in Bismarck, ND, on September 28 and 29, 2022. Our speakers reflect the challenges we face across the energy landscape – both regionally and nationally. The lignite industry is one of the largest in the state and employ thousands of well-paid workers.

Keynote speaker for this meeting will be Alex Epstein. Epstein is the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, a New York Times bestseller arguing that if we look at the whole picture, human flourishing requires that humanity use more fossil fuels not less. The book has been widely praised as the most persuasive argument ever made for our continuing use of fossil fuels.

Other agenda items will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Coalition for Secure Energy Future Provides Energy 101 Briefings to MN Legislative Candidates

Two weeks ago, the Coalition for a Secure Energy Future held Energy 101 briefings, led by Secure Energy Future’s Luke Hellier and Lignite Council’s Jonathan Fortner, for four separate groups of current Minnesota Legislators and legislative candidates. Participants in the briefings learned about how baseload electricity is produced in North Dakota and transmitted over long-distance power lines to residents and businesses in Minnesota who benefit from coal’s reliability and affordability. The hour-long briefings provided the candidates with a basic understanding of energy issues that will help lay the foundation for policymaking at the state capitol next session, as all 201 legislative seats are on the ballot this November.

MISO developing plans to compensate resource attributes

MISO’s Resource Adequacy Subcommittee announced that the grid operator is currently developing plans for near-term evaluation and stakeholder engagement in providing enhanced price signals, including a potential sloped demand curve in the next Planning Resource Auction. MISO staff emphasized the need to evaluate market design changes and products to compensate for reliability attributes in the markets to continue to provide grid stability.

This announcement follows the June MISO Board of Directors Meeting where reliability concerns were highlighted by comments made by MISO’s CEO John Baer, along with a 57-page presentation from the Independent Market Monitor that strongly advocated for MISO to fix the capacity market and shortage pricing to maintain grid reliability. In May, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a report that said the MISO grid is at elevated risk of energy shortfalls due to generation retirement that could result in blackouts and brownouts this summer.

PSC Commissioner Fedorchak testifies before subcommittee

Last week North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ Energy Subcommittee. Fedorchak cautioned the subcommittee regarding the push for renewable energy sources and the increasing costs associated with it. “Quite honestly our customers are starting to grow leery of the promises of low-cost, renewable energy,” Fedorchak said. “Our utilities have aggressively pursued green energy, assuring customers it will save them money, and yet their bills are rising, so my first plea to you today is this: Be honest with American citizens. Transitioning our grid to 100% renewable energy may be achievable and desirable, but it is not going to lower costs for many, especially in the next 25 years.”

Mack McGuffey talks about U.S. Supreme Court case on WOYM

Attorney Mack McGuffey joined Scott Hennen to talk about what the North Dakota v EPA U.S. Supreme Court ruling means to the future of the coal industry and Washington regulating power plants.

LISTEN -> https://www.facebook.com/lignitecouncil/videos/558797742543877

Sign a letter fighting the EPA

News Release: Lignite Energy Council Denounces EPA’s Assault on North Dakota’s Coal Industry

SEVEN Reasons to Vote NO on Resolution 7

Scholarship applications open