The States

Jurisdiction and State Clean Energy Goals: This panel explored jurisdictional issues.

“OPC will advocate for a market structure that promotes innovative decarbonizing technologies and ensures they are provided cost effectively.”

A conversation with Executive Director Steve Kahl, General Counsel John ‘Jack’ Schuh, Consumer Affairs and Public Outreach Specialist Stacy Eberl, and Manager of Business Operations Jill Kringstad.

“In the last legislative session, the legislature did a lot of work with carbon capture and storage. We just had an application for a pipeline to move the carbon dioxide from where it’s being produced and gathered to a storage facility. We permitted that one.”

A conversation with the Director of Reclamation and Abandoned Mine Lands Division.

“Who wouldn’t want carbon-free electricity? It sounds great, but we can’t ignore the cost and impact that has on consumers, especially low-income households.”

“One of the issues I campaigned on was my background with coal reclamation and my desire to make sure we have something similar in place for wind farms. We have 4,000 MW of wind in North Dakota. Someday, those need to be cleaned up too.”

“As we transition to more renewables, we have to recognize the need for dispatchable resources to maintain reliability. If those are largely gas, then we need more pipelines.”

This small but mighty Commission handles a lot in this vast agricultural and ranching state. North Dakota PSC is also in charge of weights and measures, protecting consumers by making sure they get what they pay for. Commissioners in North Dakota are elected and spend a lot of time traveling to hearings held among constituents for the serious business of regulating in the public interest.

“Liberalized conditions complicate the state regulators’ job of evaluating whether a proposal to merge a utility is in the public interest and place the responsibility to protect retail customers almost entirely on regulators.”