North Dakota’s five lignite coal mines produced 26.4 million tons of lignite coal in 2020, representing a 3 percent drop from the 27.2 million tons mined in 2019. The reduction was largely the result of reduced economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as competition from subsidized wind generation.

North Dakota lignite provides a lot of BTUs to power plants and synfuels plant. This graphic gives the equivalency of the BTUs if the lignite was turned into gasoline. However, 80 percent of the lignite is turned into electricity to power about 2 million homes in the Upper Midwest.

The highest production came from The Freedom Mine north of Beulah, The mine is the largest lignite producer in the United States and sold 12.6 million to the Dakota Gasification Company’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant, along with Basin Electric’s Antelope Valley Station and the Leland Olds Station. Sales to the Leland Olds Station was impacted by a fire to a train trestle that later had to be demolished and reconstructed.

North Dakota’s second largest lignite mine is the Falkirk Mine near Underwood and sold 7.2 million to serve the Coal Creek Station and the Spiritwood Station. The Center Mine sold 4.1 million to the neighboring Young Station. The Coyote Creek Mine produced nearly 2 million tons in 2019, which were sold to the adjacent Coyote Station, south of Beulah, ND. The smallest mine is the Beulah Mine, which sold 426,000 tons to the Heskett Station north of Mandan.

North Dakota’s power plants sell electricity into energy marketplaces managed by multi-state independent system operators. Basin Electric is a member of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the other utilities are members of the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO).

“North Dakota’s five lignite mines continue to be a supplier of low-cost fuel for power plants,” said Jason Bohrer, president and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council. “Besides the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, the lower tonnage in 2020 reflects mild weather, which caused a decrease in demand from 2019, and which was magnified by the deployment of natural gas and wind across the MISO and SPP footprints.”

North American Coal Corporation owns the Freedom Mine, the Falkirk Mine and the Coyote Creek Mine. The Center Mine is owned and operated by BNI Energy, Inc., and the smallest mine is Westmoreland’s Beulah Mine.

“The lignite industry is unique in that our plants are generally adjacent to the mines, which reduces, if not eliminates, transportation costs,” Bohrer said. “It also means that our state benefits from the jobs associated from both the mines and the power plants along with low cost, reliable electricity generated from lignite.”

Currently, North Dakota’s seven lignite-based power plants generate enough electricity to serve more than 2 million families in North Dakota and surrounding states.