The Tale Of Two States

The Fairfield SunTimes has an interesting "story":

During the recent energy conference when MDU Chief Executive Officer, David Goodin, was asked why they located the first refinery to be built in the US since 1976 near Dickinson, his gracious response was to say that they were “pleased” with the prompt regulatory process of North Dakota. The project was launched and it is expected to be completed within a two-year span.

There was plenty of mumbled audience comment which indicated that most of the people in the room understood why the question was asked, and they understood what wasn’t said. Application for permitting in Montana wouldn’t even begin to be processed within a two-year span. The company or any company could very well be still waiting for permitting, ten years from now, having spent millions on legal expenses.

A similar response emerged when one speaker reported the annual rate at which Germany is expected to build coal-fired generating plants, over the next 30 years. “We couldn’t even get one permitted in thirty years,” said one conference attendee. Whether true or not, such isn’t outside the realm of possibility in Montana, and just that fact alone is enough to dissuade most investors from even testing the waters.

This speaks volumes about the "sense of urgency" in some states, in some agencies. It would be interesting to hear a bit more on the permit process in Montana (corrected from original post when I accidentally wrote "Minnesota").