Monday Night Links -- July 13, 2015

I'll come back to these stories later, but they were sent to me by readers and I don't want to lose them.

This one has a lot of great data points regarding mandated renewable energy in Minnesota. ArgusMedia is reporting that Minnesota power will idle the Taconite coal plant.

The second link is to a renewable energy site suggesting things aren't as rosy as some would like to think when it comes to renewable energy. Renewables - SeeNews is reporting that global investment in renewables during 2Q15 decreased by [an astounding] 28% year-on-year. The source says the 29% drop is due, in part, to the strong dollar. It's also due in part to the fact that without government subsidies, wind/solar energy in the US isn't going to hack it. In addition, the article did not mention that Saudi Arabia recently "delayed" (i.e., scuttled) their massive solar energy program, probably due to cash flow issues, but probably also due to .... Sam Kinison would know what I'm talking about ... sand.

This is a nice feel-good article for Texans. Investors.com updates the "Texas miracle." It looks like a press release put out by Governor Perry's presidential election team:

Under Gov. Rick Perry's leadership, Texas created nearly 28% of all new jobs nationally — the majority of which paid average or above average wages.

Much has been said recently about the Texas economy being tested by a drop in oil prices. As the nation's largest producer of oil and gas, it's natural that Texas would feel the effects of a 45% decline in oil prices over the last year.

The state's oil and gas industry payrolls have decreased by more than 2,000 jobs over the last six months through May — the largest six-month job loss for the industry since the Great Recession.

Meanwhile, growth in other Texas industries has exploded as a result of the state's low-tax environment, stable rules and regulations, skilled workforce, and responsible legal environment that have come to be known as the Texas Model. While Perry was in office, CEO Magazine ranked Texas the No. 1 state to do business for ten years in a row, and 1.7 million companies filed to do business in the state.

Austin has become the new Silicon Valley and Texas surpassed California in 2012 for the first time ever to become the nation's largest high-tech exporting state.

Houston is a medical mecca — its Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world — and the state is top ranked for employing biotech-related scientists and doctorate holders.

Dallas is a global transportation hub, and the state is home to the headquarters of two international airlines and two of the world's busiest airports.

And I think Grapevine, Texas, our home, is the Christmas capital of Texas. It is certainly the wine capital with six wineries and/or wine-tasting rooms on four city blocks of Main Street.

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Jamestown $3 Billion Fertilizer Plant On Hold

Meanwhile, back in North Dakota, that $3 billion fertilizer plant has been put on hold while water issues are worked out. The Grand Forks Herald has the story.

According to a reader: at one time the Spiritwood site in Jamestown, ND,  was going to have  --

• a malting plant- done 
• a power plant- done, but mothballed day one. I don’t know if it operates -- see below
• an ethanol plant- scrapped -- see below
• a large Feed lot- scrapped 

The plan was to have all by-products from one plant, go to the next plant.

Update, July 18, 2015: outstanding news -- another reader tells me that the power plant is up and running (link here); and the ethanol plant came on-line this spring (link here). I will also post a stand-along post here in case other information becomes available.

This article at Prairie Biz Magazine may help explain the "confusion." The plant was completed in 2011 but then sat idle until recently.

The 99-megawatt coal-fired electric generating plant was completed in August 2011. The plant went through a testing and commissioning process and then was shut down because of lack of demand for electricity in Minnesota. The plant has sat idle since.

Construction on the Spiritwood Station generating plant, which is being built near Spiritwood, N.D., began in 2006. The plant cost about $350 million to construct and was intended to produce steam for use at the Cargill Malt plant and electricity for the Minnesota markets.

A huge "thank you" to this reader for providing the update.