The Williston Wire; Chicago's Utility Costs After A Brutal Winter; The Nation's Natural Gas Reserves To 11-Year Low -- The Road To New England

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As Williston begins its downtown streetscape renovation, The Renaissance Companies will begin construction on a seven-story new construction mixed-use property. The Renaissance on Main is scheduled to break ground this year and open in 2015. Anticipating high interest, Renaissance is now pre-leasing the retail and office spaces and accepting apartment inquiries.

Airline boardings in North Dakota last month surpassed 100,000, setting a record for February. The state Aeronautics Commission says 100,999 passengers boarded planes at North Dakota's eight large airports last month, up 8 percent over the year. The airports in Dickinson, Williston, Fargo and Grand Forks all set records for the month. Williston's boardings were up 35 percent over the year and Dickinson's were up 171 percent. Both cities are in the booming western oil patch. Great Lakes Airlines pulled out of Devils Lake and Jamestown at the end of January, but SkyWest Airlines is to begin service to those cities in June.

McKenzie County roads and highways are not the only local infrastructure experiencing an influx in traffic due to an increase in oil activity. Local air traffic has also seen an upsurge. "Air traffic is roughly five times more than what it was three years ago," said Tim Taylor, chairman of the airport board. "A lot of the flights landing and taking off here are related to the building and construction going on in Watford City." In 2014, the airport board plans to begin two major projects: construction of a larger parking apron and new airport terminal for roughly $3.5 million.

Posted earlier: rending on Twitter. Another No. 12 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament with upset hopes. North Dakota State pulled it off Thursday, March 20.   Freshman Carlin Dupree, in the game only because Bison star Taylor Braun fouled out, hit two free throws and a key basket in overtime and the Bison won an NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament game Round of 64 for the Summit League for the first time since 1998.  The 80-75 win over No. 5 seed Oklahoma in the West Region second round was stunning in its theater.

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The Utility Costs For A Brutal Chicago Winter

Chicago Business Journal is reporting:

Chicagoans and North Shore residents better hope it warms up in April.

The price Peoples Gas and sister utility North Shore Gas will charge for natural gas next month will rise to $1.19 and $1.21 per therm, respectively, the most Chicagoans have paid to heat their homes since natural gas prices soared in late 2005 and early 2006 after Hurricane Katrina knocked out much of gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. For March, Peoples customers are paying 93 cents per therm, which is already much higher than the 68 cents per therm being paid by suburban customers of Nicor Gas.

Nicor's gas charge for April will remain 68 cents, making Peoples' and North Shore's about 75 percent higher for the month.

The difference between what Peoples and Nicor are charging is highly unusual. In the past, when natural gas prices spiked, both utilities showed similar increases.

And, despite a brutally cold winter that has reduced gas storage supplies to their lowest levels in more than a decade, the market price of gas has risen only modestly, with the exception of some frigid days during the polar vortex when gas prices shot up.

The average Chicago household will see a $165 gas bill next month, and that's assuming the weather is normal and the cold spring doesn't continue. Last year's April bill for the same household was $105.

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Nation's Natural Gas Reserves Fall to 11-Year Low

The Gillette Star & Tribune is reporting:

Natural gas inventories nationwide reached an 11-year low during the second week of March, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday, in what industry analysts said could be a boon for Wyoming.

Nationwide natural gas storage fell to 953 billion cubic feet, the lowest level since May 2003 and almost 50 percent below last year. Natural gas stocks were about 47 percent, or 876 BCF, below their five-year average of 1,829 BCF, the EIA said. 

Producers will need to ramp production to meet the increased demand, said Wyoming Public Service Commission Administrator Darrell Zlomke.

He estimated companies will need to produce an additional three to four billion cubic feet per day to meet the 3.6 trillion cubic feet needed for storage next winter. Much of that production is likely to come from the Marcellus shale formation in the eastern United States and the Eagle Ford formation in Texas, Zlomke said.

"If they can grow that production enough, it will lessen upward pressure on prices," Zlomke said. 

Still, he said it is likely consumers will receive higher utility bills come next winter.

Without coal, the nation is on the road to New England.

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The Interview

I was in the car today for a about 45 minutes running errands, and happened to catch Rush Limbaugh in between getting in and out of the car, running in and out of stores. [I had to take the car because I was picking up a table on which to play Mah Jongg with the granddaughters.] He played a bit of a CNBC - Squawk Box interview with someone regarding global warming. The interview was interesting; Rush's comments even more so.

The CNBC interview is here (the photograph with the polar bear is priceless). Based on the little I heard at the time (and I'm not re-listening to it now because my wi-fi is very, very slow) this interview may, in fact, just about encapsulate everything I've said about global warming. Again, I've only heard bits and pieces of the interview.

Some take-aways:

• for the American electorate, global warming is at the bottom of their list of concerns
• it is not "US warming, it is global warming" -- until China, Russia, Brazil, et al play along, US efforts are meaningless
• "economic suicide" if the US goes it alone

From the linked site, three reasons why the "global warming movement" has failed, including the fact that Americans have more immediate things to worry about, like the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 to worry about

By the way, the cover of September, 2013, issue of the National Geographic is the reason I no longer appreciate the magazine the way I did when I was growing up. The cover was beneath "the dignity" of the National Geographic. Apparently What's Up With That agrees.