Harper, Eggl featured speakers at energy summit

Basin Electric representatives participate in "The State of Energy - Summit 2011" held in Fargo Aug. 17.

Dakota Gasification Company - August 19, 2011

[Kuniza/Legacy Photography] Ron Harper

Basin Electric’s CEO and General Manager Ron Harper and Mike Eggl, senior vice president of External Relations and Communications, were presenters and panelists at “The State of Energy - Summit 2011” in Fargo hosted by the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber of Commerce Aug. 17. The summit was followed by an expo and job fair.

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) was the Summit 2011 keynote speaker. “A vibrant and varied energy sector and a strong pro-business environment can create jobs and unleash America’s economic might again. Our nation’s greatest economic achievements – our standard of living and quality of life – have always been fueled by energy, and our continued success depends on affordable and abundant energy,” he said.

Hoeven said the energy industry faces many challenges because of legal, tax and regulatory uncertainty. He believes common sense should shape the proper role for energy regulation, which needs to be “understandable, straightforward and empowering.”

Harper joined Hoeven and other representatives from North Dakota’s energy sector in a news conference prior to the summit. “I’m very pleased to be a part of this conference along with Senator Hoeven,” Harper said. “Energy is vital to the future of North Dakota, and we need to encourage a strong public and private partnership to see that development occurs, and occurs in the right way.”

The first two panel discussions at the Summit addressed the future of oil exploration in the Bakken and ethanol fuel production as a game changer for the nation’s economy.

Basin Electric’s Mike Eggl joined Sandi Tabor, North Dakota Lignite Council vice president for government affairs and North Dakota Transmission Authority director, and Wayne Stenehjem, North Dakota State attorney general, in a panel discussion entitled “Road Blocks to Continued Affordable Energy: EPA Regulation, Regional Haze and the Minnesota Coal Moratorium.”

Eggl gave a slide show presentation, “Seeing Clearly, Fighting Fairly - EPA’s Role in Regulating Clean Air Across the States.” In his remarks, Eggl delivered background information about proposed regulations relating to the Clean Air Act and regional haze. He also described communication efforts by Basin Electric and its partners to address past, present and future impacts stemming from the Environmental Protection Agency’s North Dakota State Implementation Plan (SIP) and the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP), specifically, how these plans will affect Basin Electric’s coal-based units and cost of power.

Eggl also discussed EPA regulatory costs/benefits, legal and congressional actions, emissions reduction, and federal timelines for compliance.

Harper participated in a panel discussion, “Utility Companies: The Driving Force of Energy Jobs of the Future,” with North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer, and representatives from Ottertail Power Company and Northern States Power Company. Harper gave an overview of evolving electric loads in North Dakota, and power resource projections relative to increased demand in cooperative service areas such as the Bakken oil basin. He said Basin Electric’s forecast shows demand for more than 1,000 megawatts of power by 2025.

Basin Electric has diversified its energy portfolio to include wind, gas, nuclear, waste heat and biofuels in addition to coal, he noted. “In the last 10 years, North Dakota has gone from nearly zero megawatts of wind generation to more than 1,400 megawatts, placing it ninth in generating capacity in the United States. The bulk of that generation has been installed in the last several years,” Harper said.

Referencing Basin Electric’s most recent addition to its coal fleet, the Dry Fork Station near Gillette, WY, Harper said, “Coal is abundant, affordable, and simply must remain a fuel for electricity. Utilities may have to adapt to new ways of using coal, but we can and will adapt.”