701-566-9300Murphy’s Law Blog 2018 | #58
There was a recent meeting of the Water Topics Overview Committee in Bismarck that was comprised of 16 different presentations. Some observations include: Water use in the Bakken shale oil play is at an all-time high. Jon Patch, Director of Water Appropriations at the State Water Commission, typified the typical frac job in 2012 at […]hi
There was a recent meeting of the Water Topics Overview Committee in Bismarck that was comprised of 16 different presentations. Some observations include:
Water use in the Bakken shale oil play is at an all-time high. Jon Patch, Director of Water Appropriations at the State Water Commission, typified the typical frac job in 2012 at 12 acre feet and stated that with today’s increased...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2018 | #57
This is an update on the activities of the Interim Natural Resources committee whose activities, so as not to rehash, were last explained in blog #53. This meeting was mostly about the collaboration (and lack of) between the wind power industry, the Public Service Commission (PSC), the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and agricultural […]hi
This is an update on the activities of the Interim Natural Resources committee whose activities, so as not to rehash, were last explained in blog #53. This meeting was mostly about the collaboration (and lack of) between the wind power industry, the Public Service Commission (PSC), the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and agricultural interests. Also testifying on wind siting issues were...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2018 | #55
Public input is still being taken by the North Dakota Department of Health (DoH) on their Nutrient Management Plan, include at a meeting at the Fargodome on the first of May. There were people interested in municipal, livestock and general agricultural sources as well as septic system problems. We listened to reports from DoH officials […]hi
Public input is still being taken by the North Dakota Department of Health (DoH) on their Nutrient Management Plan, include at a meeting at the Fargodome on the first of May. There were people interested in municipal, livestock and general agricultural sources as well as septic system problems. We listened to reports from DoH officials on the status of the Plan and then broke into separate...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2018 | #54
Last week, I attended the third interim Agriculture Committee meeting. All four of their study topics for the 20 months between legislative sessions were included. First up was the State Soil Conservation Committee, a group which had been under scrutiny when cutting budgets last session. Bruce Schmidt is the new (6 months or so on […]hi
Last week, I attended the third interim Agriculture Committee meeting. All four of their study topics for the 20 months between legislative sessions were included. First up was the State Soil Conservation Committee, a group which had been under scrutiny when cutting budgets last session. Bruce Schmidt is the new (6 months or so on the job now) Program Coordinator, Watershed and Soil...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2018 | #49
On January 17 I drove to Jamestown to attend the ND Grazing Lands Coalition’s (NDGLC) Winter Conference. Like a couple of the many folks I spoke with, you may be wondering what a NDSGA representative was doing there. I explained to them that the Soybean Growers are interested in knowing what is going on in […]hi
On January 17 I drove to Jamestown to attend the ND Grazing Lands Coalition’s (NDGLC) Winter Conference. Like a couple of the many folks I spoke with, you may be wondering what a NDSGA representative was doing there. I explained to them that the Soybean Growers are interested in knowing what is going on in ND Agriculture and that the paramount interests of this winter conference, namely Soil...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #48
This week, I attended the Interim Agriculture Committee in Bismarck. This was their second meeting, the first one months back discussed if anything should or could be done to improve the accuracy of grain testing (see blog entry #42 for more detail). That topic came up at the end of this meeting and it looks […]hi
This week, I attended the Interim Agriculture Committee in Bismarck. This was their second meeting, the first one months back discussed if anything should or could be done to improve the accuracy of grain testing (see blog entry #42 for more detail). That topic came up at the end of this meeting and it looks like the committee may be looking at it again next time they meet – probably in March...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #47
This Wednesday I attended the Natural Resources committee meeting – their second of this interim session. In #43 of this blog, I laid out the goals of the committee and what they did their first meeting. Wind occupied the entire morning, with presentations from Public Service Commission Commissioner Fedorchak explaining their siting and decommissioning process. […]hi
This Wednesday I attended the Natural Resources committee meeting – their second of this interim session. In #43 of this blog, I laid out the goals of the committee and what they did their first meeting. Wind occupied the entire morning, with presentations from Public Service Commission Commissioner Fedorchak explaining their siting and decommissioning process. She also explained how far wind...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #46
Since I last wrote to you, I have worked a couple of days each in October (Dickinson tour) and November (Minot). Both were efforts to track the Interim Legislative committee known as Energy Development and Transmission (EDTC). Chaired by Senator Wardner of Dickinson, this is the most active of all interim Committees as it has […]hi
Since I last wrote to you, I have worked a couple of days each in October (Dickinson tour) and November (Minot). Both were efforts to track the Interim Legislative committee known as Energy Development and Transmission (EDTC). Chaired by Senator Wardner of Dickinson, this is the most active of all interim Committees as it has met nearly every month and often for two days at a time.
Here is...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #45
This is the second filing from my recent trip to Bismarck covering the Energy Development and Transmission Committee (EDTC) and having encapsulated the first day, what follows is the gist of the second. Each year, the EDTC attends the EmPower ND Energy Conference and this was it. It pulls in the Who’s Who of ND […]hi
This is the second filing from my recent trip to Bismarck covering the Energy Development and Transmission Committee (EDTC) and having encapsulated the first day, what follows is the gist of the second. Each year, the EDTC attends the EmPower ND Energy Conference and this was it. It pulls in the Who’s Who of ND Government and Energy related people. Senator Hoeven kicked it off followed by...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2017 | #44
This is about the two days just spent in Bismarck covering the Energy Development and Transmission Committee (EDTC), which is one of the North Dakota Legislature’s Interim committees that I follow. It is the most active of all interim committees and they are charged with some issues that could change our taxes as well as […]hi
This is about the two days just spent in Bismarck covering the Energy Development and Transmission Committee (EDTC), which is one of the North Dakota Legislature’s Interim committees that I follow. It is the most active of all interim committees and they are charged with some issues that could change our taxes as well as determine where our dollars go. Of the three issues (study taxation of...