VeraSun delays opening of ND ethanol plant

We saw this coming a mile away…

Brookings, S.D.-based VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) announced today that it would delay the startup of its 110 million gallon per year ethanol production facility in Hankinson, N.D., marking the third VeraSun facility that has delayed startup operations this month due to market conditions.

This is becoming an increasingly popular thing for ethanol plants to do. The article goes on…

Does this surprise anyone?

North Dakota regulators have granted Otter Tail Power Co.’s request for a special charge to cover its investment in a wind farm.

Otter Tail owns part of a new wind farm south of Langdon in northeastern North Dakota. The project is capable of generating 159 megawatts of electricity. Otter Tail gets 40.5 megawatts of the wind farm’s output.

On Friday, January 25th, the Grand Forks Herald published a commentary about our report The Cost of Grand Forks Going "Green."  (read the entire report HERE and the commentary HERE)  On Thursday, January 31st, the Herald published two letters to the editor from folks who support the Green Grand Forks committee.  The letters paint the North Dakota Policy Council as a conspiracy-minded, anti-environment group spreading lies about the committee. 

Speaking at an event in Fargo, Iowa State University Professor David Swenson acknowledges that the ethanol industry has a positive impact on rural communities, but also states that it is not nearly as great as what is typically perceived.

ND lawmakers form group to study possible state oil refinery

Six Democratic state legislators and Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson have formed a task force to explore whether North Dakota should get into the oil-refining business.

Expanding North Dakota's refining capacity may help moderate prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, which are among the nation's highest, and assure a more regular supply, lawmakers said at a news conference Thursday.

Is anyone surprised? 

The Alchem ethanol plant here is closing, at least temporarily.

The plant, which has 40 employees and has operated for 25 years, will suspend operations indefinitely.

The State of North Dakota has chosen ethanol and biodiesel as a cure all for creating economic growth and ending rural stagnation.  Large-agribusiness and professional politicians at the national level have successfully convinced the people that the subsidization of ethanol and biodiesel is good for rural economies, national security, and global warming.  Those noble goals often blind ethanol and biodiesel supporters to the adverse side affects that government’s interference will inevitably create.