Geoff Simon's Top North Dakota Energy Stories For The Week -- October 6, 2018

School funding:

The North Dakota Legislature’s interim Education Funding Committee wrapped up its work yesterday and although it won’t be introducing legislation on behalf of the committee, there will likely be several bills introduced in the 2019 session related to its discussions.

Among those will be “on-time funding,” which simply means that money provided by the state to support local education is based on the enrollment figure for the current school year. The state’s Foundation Aid formula now bases payments on the previous year’s school enrollment, which helps protect districts where enrollments are declining. But Aimee Copas, executive director of the ND Council of Educational Leaders, said the lack of on-time funding in the current formula results in school districts with increasing enrollments (like those in western North Dakota) providing services to additional students without additional funding. 

Heavy trucks: 

The Burleigh County Commission voted this week to join the LoadPass Permits system for the movement of oversize trucks on its county roads.

Burleigh County is the latest non-oil producing county to join LoadPass. It will officially join the system on January 1. County Engineer Marcus Hall said the county has been interested in finding a better way to manage overweight truck traffic.

"We've experienced in the last few years a real big increase in what I would call 'super heavy loads,' 250,000-plus pounds, and traveling many miles on some of our county roads," Hall said.

Davis Refinery. Court rulings:

A complaint against Meridian Energy's Davis Refinery project near Belfield has been dismissed by a Burleigh County District Court judge. The Dakota Resource Council's motion for summary judgment was denied and all claims dismissed with prejudice. 

District Judge Bruce Haskell found the Conditional Use Permit for the Davis Refinery is valid and still in “full force and effect.”

Another North Dakota judge finalized his recent conclusion that state regulators don’t have a say in the site. Administrative Law Judge Patrick Ward released his ruling this week that the refinery will not produce enough to fall under the oversight of the ND Public Service Commission. Environmental groups are asking Judge Ward to reconsider his recommendation. 

 Mountrail-Williams Co-Op opens new office (possible only because of the Bakken):

North Dakota oil producers have seen explosive growth the past decade, but so have the electric companies that serve them. This week, one of those companies moved into a new office building in north Williston.

Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the co-op’s new 85,000 square-foot office building. General Manager Dale Haugen said the electric load currently served by the co-op is about 15 times larger than it was in 2010. 

Quick Connects

• Lignite Energy Council’s conference highlights hard work -- KFYR-TV

• University presidents seek $100 million for research -- Grand Forks Herald

• FAA vote a 'victory' for North Dakota drone industry -- Grand Forks Herald

• Hess donates to Williston school's STEM program -- KFYR-TV

• Ward County approves $53 million budget, no property tax increases -- Minot Daily News

• ND tribal group joins lawsuit over methane rule, claim toxins affect people -- Bismarck Tribune

• School budget committee discusses hiring construction manager -- Dickinson Press

• New Watford City golf course opens to rave reviews -- McKenzie County Farmer

• NDLTAP encourages fourth graders to become missing "Sign Warriors" -- NDLTAP

• EIA says both US natural gas supply and demand have increased in past year -- EIA

• Shale drove record U.S. oil and natural gas exports in first half of 2018 -- Energy in Depth

• US oil well completions up 82% in 3Q over 2017 -- American Petroleum Institute

• Petrochemicals set to be the largest driver of world oil demand -- International Energy Agency

• Saudi Arabia plans oil output hike in October and November -- Reuters

• Major Utah oil-shale project clears ‘tremendous milestone' -- Salt Lake City Tribune

• Op-ed: Good riddance to Obama's gas flaring rule -- Washington Examiner