Last Updated: June 16, 2022

Overview

North Dakota has substantial fossil fuel and renewable energy resources.^1,2,3 The state is the third-largest crude oil producer in the nation and also has significant coal and natural gas reserves.^4,5,6,7 Located at the geographic center of North America, North Dakota has a climate characterized by large temperature differences, varied precipitation, plentiful sunshine, low humidity, and nearly continuous wind. North Dakota’s rolling plains slope gently upward to the west toward the Rocky Mountains. Two major river systems, the Missouri River and the Red River, flow through North Dakota, and a large federal dam on the Missouri River harnesses its hydropower. Winds move unobstructed across the state, providing a renewable resource that generates a growing share of the state’s electricity.^8,9,10 The state’s rich soils produce many crops, including corn for ethanol production.¹¹ The state is among the top 10 ethanol producers in the nation.¹² North Dakota’s abundant sunshine provides the energy for the state’s small, but increasing, amount of solar generation.¹³

In part because of the state’s small population, North Dakota’s total energy consumption ranks among the lowest in the nation. However, North Dakota’s energy consumption per capita and the amount of energy needed to produce each dollar of GDP rank among the top five states, in part because of its relatively cold climate, high vehicle miles traveled per capita, and energy-intensive industrial sector. North Dakota has the highest residential energy consumption per capita of any state and the third-highest transportation energy consumption per capita.^14,15,16 The industrial sector accounts for slightly more than half of the state’s total energy consumption in the end-use sectors.¹⁷ The energy-intensive oil and natural gas extraction industries, mining that includes coal production, and agriculture are major contributors to the state’s economy.¹⁸ The transportation sector accounts for about one-fifth of total energy consumption in the state. The commercial sector accounts for about one-seventh, and the residential sector makes up about one-tenth.¹⁹

North Dakota’s total energy production is about seven times greater than its energy consumption.²⁰ A surge in energy production over the past decade has come from the development of the state’s oil reserves.²¹ Crude oil accounts for about three-fifths of North Dakota’s total primary energy production. Natural gas accounts for about one-fourth of the state’s energy production, coal for nearly one-tenth, and renewable energy, including biofuels, for the remaining 4%.²²

Petroleum

North Dakota ranks second in the nation, after Texas, in crude oil reserves and third, after Texas and New Mexico, in crude oil production.^23,24 Oil exploration in North Dakota began in the early 20th century, but the state’s first oil discovery did not occur until 1951.²⁵ Production was modest until new drilling technologies—horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing—were applied more than a decade ago to exploration of the Bakken Shale formation in western North Dakota in the Williston Basin. The Williston Basin is an area of several hundred thousand square miles that includes parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.²⁶ The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that up to 3.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil are in the Bakken formation and much of that oil is in North Dakota.²⁷ About 20 of the nation’s 100 largest oil fields, as measured by proved reserves, are in North Dakota.²⁸

From 2012 to 2020, North Dakota was the nation’s second-largest crude oil-producing state. Although production increased dramatically in the past decade, the state’s oil output fell by 17%, or 244,000 barrels per day, in 2020 from 2019’s record volume. Production declined by 9%, or 109,000 barrels per day, in 2021, and New Mexico surpassed North Dakota for the first time. The North Dakota crude oil production decline was mainly due to the drop in petroleum demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the state’s production was still almost four times higher than in 2010.^29,30,31,32

North Dakota’s one operating oil refinery can process about 71,000 barrels of crude oil per calendar day, which is less than one-tenth of the state’s daily crude oil production. A smaller refinery, with an operating capacity of 19,000 barrels per calendar day, shut down in June 2020.^33,34 A planned refinery with a capacity of nearly 50,000 barrels per calendar day will accommodate increased Bakken crude oil production. Construction of that refinery, near Belfield in the west-central part of the state, is scheduled to start in 2022.^35,36 During the past decade, most of North Dakota’s crude oil production was transported out of the state by rail. But new pipelines built in recent years resulted in more oil takeaway pipeline capacity than rail car capacity.^37,38,39 At the end of 2021, about four-fifths of the state’s crude oil production was transported by pipeline.⁴⁰ North Dakota is also a U.S. entrance point for pipelines carrying Canada’s crude oil.⁴¹ Oil from Canada is transported via pipeline to Midwest refining centers and to the crude oil market hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, as well as to refineries on the Gulf Coast.⁴²

Relatively little of the crude oil produced in North Dakota is used in the state. However, the state’s petroleum consumption per capita is among the top five in the nation. The transportation sector accounts for about three-fifths of North Dakota’s petroleum consumption, the industrial sector uses one-third, and the commercial sector accounts for about 5%.^43,44,45 Conventional motor gasoline without ethanol is allowed to be sold statewide.⁴⁶ There are about 45 fueling stations in the state that distribute E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% motor gasoline.⁴⁷ North Dakota has the highest per capita motor gasoline expenditures among the states.⁴⁸ About 4% of the petroleum used in North Dakota is consumed by the residential sector, where about one in six households uses petroleum products—including fuel oil, propane, and kerosene—for home heating. North Dakota has the twelfth-highest share, 16%, of petroleum use for home heating among the states.^49,50

Natural gas

North Dakota has almost 3% of the nation’s total natural gas reserves, and the state accounts for 2% of U.S. total natural gas gross withdrawals.^51,52 Natural gas was produced in North Dakota as early as 1892, but significant commercial production was not established until 1929, when development of a Montana natural gas field extended into North Dakota. Sporadic development of the state’s natural gas resources continued between the mid-1940s and the early 1980s.⁵³ Production remained below 85 billion cubic feet per year until 2008, when output began to increase rapidly from the associated gas produced with the development of the state’s shale oil resources. Gross withdrawals of natural gas in the state exceeded 1 trillion cubic feet for the first time in 2019, but dropped below that record volume in 2020 due to lower U.S. natural gas demand resulting from a warmer winter in 2020 and the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, North Dakota’s total natural gas production increased as natural gas prices rose and output surpassed 1 trillion cubic feet again, coming close to 2019’s record production.^54,55 Natural gas production in North Dakota’s Bakken region increased by 9% in 2021 to a record high, even though the region’s crude oil production declined by 6%.⁵⁶

North Dakota natural gas production exceeds the state’s takeaway pipeline capacity. New natural gas processing plant capacity and pipelines are coming online to handle more of the state’s gas output, and North Dakota regulators are considering petrochemical plants in the state to use the natural gas recovered from Bakken crude oil production.^{57,58,59,60,61} Substantial amounts of the state’s natural gas production is released and burned (flared) at the wellhead. State regulators prefer to burn the associated gas extracted during oil production, instead of venting the gas into the air, because methane (the main component of vented natural gas) is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (the main product of flared natural gas).⁶² To reduce the state’s emissions from natural gas production, North Dakota's Industrial Commission set incremental targets over several years to increase the amount of natural gas that is captured. In 2021 about 92.5% of the state’s natural gas production was captured, which exceeded the state’s 91% target capture rate.^63,64,65 North Dakota has no underground natural gas storage fields.⁶⁶ In 2021, the state’s legislature passed legislation that gives North Dakota’s Industrial Commission the authority to issue permits for underground storage sites that can hold natural gas, natural gas liquids, or crude oil.^67,68

Natural gas enters North Dakota primarily from Canada and Montana and most of it continues on to South Dakota and Minnesota. Nearly twice as much natural gas leaves the state than enters it. Almost 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas was shipped out of North Dakota in 2020, the lowest level since 2009. Natural gas shipments into the state totaled 630 billion cubic feet, the lowest since 1998.⁶⁹ In recent years, about 40% of the total natural gas consumed in North Dakota was used in the production, processing, and distribution of natural gas. Of the natural gas delivered to the state’s end users in 2020, just under half went to the industrial sector. Natural gas deliveries to the state’s electric power sector exceeded deliveries to both the commercial sector and the residential sector for the first time in 2020, accounting for one-fifth of the state total. Natural gas use by the electric power sector has more than doubled since 2017 because of increased natural-gas fired electricity generation. In 2020, North Dakota’s commercial sector used slightly less than one-fifth of the delivered natural gas and the residential sector used about 15%, as 4 in 10 North Dakota households rely on natural gas for heating.^70,71

Coal

North Dakota is the fifth-largest coal-producing state in the nation and accounts for about 5% of U.S. coal output.⁷² The state has about 4% of U.S. economically recoverable coal reserves.⁷³ Western North Dakota contains the world’s largest known deposit of lignite, which has the lowest heating value of all coal types and is mostly used to generate electricity. Coal has been mined at hundreds of sites in North Dakota since the 1870s, but now only lignite is produced at five active surface mines in the west-central part of the state. Oxidized lignite (leonardite), which is used in soil stabilization and as a drilling fluid additive, is also mined in North Dakota.^74,75,76

All of North Dakota’s mined lignite is used within the state by electricity generating plants and industrial users.⁷⁷ The state’s four largest power plants are coal-fired and are clustered near the center of the state, north of Bismarck.^78,79 Industrial facilities and commercial users in the state also receive small amounts of subbituminous coal from Montana and Wyoming.⁸⁰ In addition, North Dakota uses coal to produce synthetic natural gas (SNG). The only operating coal-to-SNG facility in the nation is the Great Plains Synfuels Plant in Beulah, North Dakota, where lignite can be converted into an average of 153 million cubic feet of pipeline-quality natural gas each day.⁸¹

Electricity

Coal-fired power plants accounted for 57% of North Dakota’s electricity generation in 2021, and the state’s four largest power plants by generating capacity and amount of electricity produced annually are coal-fired.^82,83 The rest of the state’s electricity generation came primarily from renewable resources, including wind energy, which supplied about 34% of generation, and hydroelectric power, which provided about 5%. Natural gas fueled about 3% of the state’s electricity generation. The state does not have any nuclear power plants.⁸⁴ Independent power producers account for about one-fifth of North Dakota’s electricity generation from utility-scale facilities (1 megawatt or larger capacity), and all of it is wind power.⁸⁵

North Dakota generates more electricity than it consumes, and almost half of the power generated in the state is sent to other states and Canada via the regional electric grid.⁸⁶ Several high-voltage electric transmission lines connect North Dakota to Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, and beyond. There are also three electric transmission line crossings at North Dakota’s border with Canada.⁸⁷

North Dakota ranks among the 10 states with the lowest total electricity sales. However, because of its small population and strong electricity use in its energy-intensive industrial sector, the state is second, after Wyoming, in highest per capita electricity sales.⁸⁸ The industrial sector is the state’s leading electricity consumer, accounting for nearly half of retail power sales in the state, followed by the commercial sector, which accounts for three-tenths. The residential sector, where 4 out of every 10 households heat with electricity, accounts for about one-fifth of the state’s retail electricity sales.^89,90

Renewable energy

North Dakota’s wind power generation more than doubled from 2015 to 2021. The state has substantial and nearly continuous wind energy resources. In 2021, wind was the second-largest electricity generating source in North Dakota and provided about one-third of the state’s net generation. The state ranked sixth in the nation in the share of its electricity generated from wind energy.^91,92 At the beginning of 2022, North Dakota had about 4,300 megawatts of installed wind power generating capacity. The state’s largest wind farm, located near Williston, has 300 megawatts of generating capacity and came online in early 2021.⁹³

Hydropower contributed 5% of North Dakota’s in-state electricity net generation in 2021.⁹⁴ The state’s fifth-largest power plant is at the Garrison Dam located on the Missouri River northwest of Bismarck. Construction of the Garrison Dam in the 1950s significantly reduced the extent of serious flooding in the state.^95,96 The 583-megawatt Garrison generating facility is North Dakota’s only utility-scale hydroelectric plant.^97,98 A small amount of electricity is also generated from the state’s one biomass-fueled facility, a 10-megawatt industrial unit that provides back-up power supply.⁹⁹

North Dakota has undeveloped renewable energy resources, including geothermal and solar energy. The western half of North Dakota has moderately favorable conditions for geothermal development, but the state has no electricity generation from geothermal energy.¹⁰⁰ The state has moderate solar energy resources, but there is only a small amount of customer-sited, small-scale (less than 1 megawatt in capacity) electricity generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems, most of which comes from rooftop solar panels. North Dakota is one of three states, along with Alaska and West Virginia, that has no utility-scale solar power generating facilities.^{101,102,103,104}

North Dakota is one of the top 10 fuel ethanol-producing states, and it manufactures about 3% of the nation’s total ethanol. The state’s five ethanol production plants use corn as feedstock and together can produce nearly 527 million gallons per year.^105,106,107 The state also has one biodiesel production plant that uses canola oil as its primary feedstock and has a production capacity of 85 million gallons per year.^108,109

In March 2007, North Dakota adopted a voluntary goal to obtain 10% of the state’s electricity retail sales by 2015 from power generated by renewables and by recovering energy that is normally lost and using it to generate electricity.¹¹⁰ The goal, which applied to all retail providers of electricity, has been exceeded. In 2021, about 39% of the electricity generated in North Dakota came from renewable energy sources.¹¹¹ In 1991, North Dakota was one of the first states with a net metering program to allow households and businesses with small renewable energy systems and combined heat-and-power systems up to 100 kilowatts in capacity to sell their excess electricity to investor-owned utilities.¹¹²

Energy on tribal lands

North Dakota is home to five federally recognized Native American tribes and one Indian community.¹¹³ Two of the five reservations—Standing Rock and Fort Berthold—are among the nation’s largest reservations at about 1.2 million acres each.^114,115 There are about 30,000 Native Americans living in North Dakota, making up about 5% of the state’s population, and about 2% of the state’s land area is tribal lands.^116,117

The Native American tribes of North Dakota have shared in the state's increased crude oil production. In 2021, crude oil production from tribal lands in the United States was about four times greater than a decade earlier, and much of that new production came from wells on North Dakota tribal lands. The Fort Berthold Reservation, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations—known as the Three Affiliated Tribes—is in the center of the prolific oil-producing Williston Basin in the western part of North Dakota.¹¹⁸ The wells on the Fort Berthold Reservation, which is the largest reservation in the state, typically produce about one-fifth of the state’s monthly oil output.^119,120 The Affiliated Tribes drilled the first tribe-owned wells on the reservation in 2015.¹²¹ In April 2021, the Affiliated Tribes sought to use the captured natural gas from oil wells on the reservation for heat and electricity generation at new greenhouses constructed to grow vegetables.¹²²

North Dakota’s reservations have significant renewable resources. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians seeks to create a tribe-owned electric utility and become energy self-sufficient, relying on renewable resources and energy efficiency to eliminate their dependence on non-tribal fossil fuels.¹²³ A 2020 report from Sandia National Laboratories found that the tribe’s reservation, located in north-central North Dakota near the Canadian border, had sufficient wind energy resources to provide electricity to the tribe’s casino and resort hotel.¹²⁴ The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation is rated among the top 10 tribal lands in the nation with the best wind and solar resources for potential electricity generation.¹²⁵ The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe plans to build a 235-megawatt wind farm.^126,127 The tribe received a federal grant in 2021 to install public charging stations on the reservation for electric vehicles.¹²⁸ The Spirit Lake Tribe on the Fort Totten Reservation received an U.S. Department of Energy grant in August 2018 to help pay for a 1.5-megawatt wind turbine to provide most of the electricity used by 12 tribal facilities and 350 residential consumers.¹²⁹

Energy efficiency projects have been undertaken on tribal lands in North Dakota as well. The Fort Totten School on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation was the first net zero-energy school on tribal lands in the nation and the first anywhere in North Dakota. The school produces more energy than it consumes. The design of the school includes solar PV panels; ground-source geothermal heating and cooling; high-efficiency heat pumps; an energy recovery system; occupancy sensors; and LED and solar tube lighting, among other features.^130,131

Endnotes

¹ U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Crude Oil Proved Reserves, Reserves Changes, and Production, Proved Reserves as of 12/31, 2015–20.
² U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Dry Natural Gas and Wet NG, 2015–20.
³ U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, WindExchange, Wind Energy in North Dakota, Maps & Data, accessed May 17, 2022.
⁴ U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production, Annual-Thousand Barrels per Day, 2016–21.
⁵ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2020 (October 4, 2021), Table 6, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State and Coal Rank, 2020.
⁶ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2020 (October 4, 2021), Table 15, Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines, Estimated Recoverable Reserves, and Demonstrated Reserve Base by Mining Method, 2020.
⁷ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Wet NG, 2015–20.
⁸ Enz, John W., North Dakota Topographic, Climatic, and Agricultural Overview (January 16, 2003).
⁹ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F34, Population, GDP, and Degree Days, 2020.
¹⁰ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
¹¹ U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021 State Agriculture Overview, North Dakota.
¹² U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P4, Primary Energy Production Estimates in Physical Units, Ranked by State, 2019.
¹³ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
¹⁴ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C10, Total Energy Consumption Estimates, Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Energy Consumption Estimates per Real Dollar of GDP, Ranked by State, 2019.
¹⁵ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C14, Energy Consumption per Capita by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2019.
¹⁶ U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, “FOTW #1113, December 23, 2019: Average Annual Highway Vehicle Miles Traveled Per Capita Varies by State.”
¹⁷ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C11, Energy Consumption Estimates by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2019.
¹⁸ U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Interactive Data, Regional Data, GDP and Personal Income, Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State, GDP in current dollars, Classification NAICS, North Dakota, All statistics in table, 2020.
¹⁹ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C11, Energy Consumption Estimates by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2019.
²⁰ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P3, Total Primary Energy Production and Total Energy Consumption Estimates in Trillion Btu, 2019.
²¹ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Field Production of Crude Oil, 1981–2021.
²² U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P2, Energy Production Estimates in Trillion Btu, 2019.
²³ U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Proved Reserves, Reserves Changes, and Production, Proved Reserves as of 12/31, 2015–20.
²⁴ U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production, Annual-Thousand Barrels per Day, 2016–21.
²⁵ Bluemle, John P., The 50th Anniversary of the Discovery of Oil in North Dakota, Miscellaneous Series No. 89, North Dakota Geological Survey (2001), p. i.
²⁶ North Dakota Geological Survey, "Overview of the Petroleum Geology of the North Dakota Williston Basin," accessed May 18, 2022.
²⁷ U.S. Geological Survey, “Assessment of Undiscovered Continuous Oil Resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations of the Williston Basin Province, North Dakota and Montana, 2021,” accessed May 24, 2022.
²⁸ U.S. EIA, Top 100 U.S. Oil and Gas Fields (March 2015).
²⁹ U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production, Annual-Thousand Barrels per Day, 1981–2021.
³⁰ U.S. EIA, “COVID-19 mitigation efforts result in the lowest U.S. petroleum consumption in decades,” Today in Energy (December 20, 2020).
³¹ U.S. EIA, “The number of active U.S. crude oil and natural gas rigs is at the lowest point on record,” Today in Energy (May 20, 2020).
³² North Dakota Industrial Commission, Department of Mineral Resources, ND Monthly Bakken Oil Production Statistics, accessed May 18, 2022.
³³ U.S. EIA, Refinery Capacity Report (June 25, 2021), Table 1, Number and Capacity of Operable Petroleum Refineries by PAD District and State as of January 1, 2021, Table 13, Refineries Permanently Shutdown By PAD District Between January 1, 1991 and January 1, 2021.
³⁴ U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production, Annual-Thousand Barrels per Day, 2016–21.
³⁵ Meridian Energy Group, Davis Refinery, accessed May 24, 2022.
³⁶ Willis, Adam, “Construction of oil refinery to start in 2022 near North Dakota's only national park, CEO says,” The Dickinson Press (September 14, 2021).
³⁷ U.S. EIA, Movements by Pipeline, Tanker, Barge and Rail between PAD Districts, Crude Oil, From PADD 2 to, Annual- Thousand Barrels, 2016–21.
³⁸ North Dakota Pipeline Authority, Oil Transportation Table, accessed May 24, 2022.
³⁹ North Dakota Pipeline Authority, North Dakota Crude Oil Pipelines, accessed May 24, 2022.
⁴⁰ North Dakota Pipeline Authority, Monthly Update February 2022 Production & Transportation (February 14, 2022), p. 2.
⁴¹ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Profile Overview, Map, Layers/Legend: Liquids Pipeline Border Crossing, accessed May 18, 2022.
⁴² TC Energy, Oils and Liquids Operations, Overview, accessed May 18, 2022.
⁴³ U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production-Annual, Thousand Barrels, 2016–21.
⁴⁴ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C15, Petroleum Consumption Estimates, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2019.
⁴⁵ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2020.
⁴⁶ American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Gasoline Requirements (January 2018).
⁴⁷ U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Alternative Fueling Station Locator, North Dakota, Ethanol (E85), accessed May 18, 2022.
⁴⁸ U.S. EIA, Table E20, Motor Gasoline Price and Expenditure Estimates, Ranked by State, 2019.
⁴⁹ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2020.
⁵⁰ U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2019 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, North Dakota.
⁵¹ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual–Million Cubic Feet, 2016–21.
⁵² U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Wet NG, 2015–20.
⁵³ North Dakota Geological Survey, "Overview of the Petroleum Geology of the North Dakota Williston Basin," accessed May 18, 2022.
⁵⁴ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 1967–2021.
⁵⁵ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals from Shale Gas, Annual, 2007–20.
⁵⁶ U.S. EIA, “Natural gas production in the Bakken region grew while crude oil fell in 2021,” Today in Energy (May 16, 2022).
⁵⁷ MacPherson, James, “Gas pipeline, processing plant proposed in North Dakota,” Associated Press (January 8, 2020).
⁵⁸ Edwards, Suzanne, “North Dakota Considering Petrochemical Plants to Reduce Bakken’s Flared Natural Gas,” Shale Daily (October 25, 2019).
⁵⁹ North Dakota Pipeline Authority, Gas Plants, Natural Gas Processing Capacity, Million Cubic Feet Per Day, accessed May 24, 2022.
⁶⁰ North Dakota Pipeline Authority, North Dakota Natural Gas Pipelines, updated February 2019.
⁶¹ U.S. EIA, “FERC approves new natural gas pipeline projects to increase U.S. exports,” Today in Energy (May 24, 2022).
⁶² U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Vented and Flared, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, North Dakota, 2015–20.
⁶³ U.S. EIA, “North Dakota’s natural gas producers meet the state’s natural gas capture target,” Today in Energy (December 8, 2021).
⁶⁴ North Dakota Industrial Commission, Order 24665 Policy/Guidance Version 041718, p. 2.
⁶⁵ North Dakota Pipeline Authority, Annual Report July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021, Natural Gas Capture, p. 11.
⁶⁶ U.S. EIA, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity, Total Number of Existing Fields, 2015–20.
⁶⁷ Nemec, Rich, “North Dakota Examining Potential for Bakken Natural Gas, Liquids Storage,” Shale Daily (December 17, 2020).
⁶⁸ Sisk, Amy, “Gas Storage Bills Heads to Governor,” The Bismarck Tribune (April 19, 2021).
⁶⁹ U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, North Dakota, 1979–2020.
⁷⁰ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, North Dakota, Annual, 2015–20.
⁷¹ U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2019 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, North Dakota.
⁷² U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2020 (October 4, 2021), Table 6, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State and Coal Rank, 2020.
⁷³ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2020 (October 4, 2021), Table 15, Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines, Estimated Recoverable Reserves, and Demonstrated Reserve Base by Mining Method, 2020.
⁷⁴ North Dakota Geological Survey, Mineral Resources of North Dakota: Coal, accessed May 19, 2022.
⁷⁵ U.S. EIA, Energy Explained, Coal Explained, Types of Coal, updated October 19, 2021.
⁷⁶ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2020 (October 4, 2021), Table 2, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State, County, and Mine Type, 2020.
⁷⁷ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2020 (October 4, 2021), Domestic Distribution of U.S. coal by origin state, North Dakota, Table OS-15, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Origin State, 2020.
⁷⁸ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, North Dakota Electricity Profile 2020, Tables 2A, 2B.
⁷⁹ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Profile Overview, Map, Layers/Legend: Coal Power Plant, accessed June 8, 2022.
⁸⁰ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2020 (October 4, 2021), Domestic distribution of U.S. coal by destination state, North Dakota, Table DS-29, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Destination State, 2020.
⁸¹ Great Plains Synfuels, Dakota Gasification Company, Gasification, accessed May 19, 2022.
⁸² U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
⁸³ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, North Dakota Electricity Profile 2020, Tables 2A, 2B.
⁸⁴ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
⁸⁵ U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2022), Tables 1.3.B, 1.14.B.
⁸⁶ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, North Dakota Electricity Profile 2020, Table 10, Supply and disposition of electricity, 1990 through 2020.
⁸⁷ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Profile Overview, Map, Legends/Layers: Electric Transmission Line, Electricity Border Crossing, accessed May 19, 2022.
⁸⁸ U.S. EIA, Table C17, Electricity Retail Sales, Total and Residential, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2019.
⁸⁹ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Retail sales of electricity, annual, 2018–21.
⁹⁰ U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2019 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, North Dakota.
⁹¹ U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2022), Tables 1.3.B, 1.14.B.
⁹² U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
⁹³ U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of March 2022, Plant State: North Dakota, Technology: Onshore Wind.
⁹⁴ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
⁹⁵ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Electricity Profile 2020, Tables 2A, 2B.
⁹⁶ Enz, John W., North Dakota Topographic, Climatic, and Agricultural Overview (January 16, 2003).
⁹⁷ U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of March 2022, Plant State: North Dakota, Technology: Conventional Hydroelectric.
⁹⁸ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Facts about Garrison Dam and Powerhouse, accessed May 23, 2022.
⁹⁹ U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of March 2022, Plant State: North Dakota, Technology: Other Waste Biomass.
¹⁰⁰ U.S. EIA, North Dakota Profile Overview, Map, Layers/Legend: Geothermal Potential, accessed May 23, 2022.
¹⁰¹ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, North Dakota, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
¹⁰² Enz, John W., North Dakota Topographic, Climatic, and Agricultural Overview (January 16, 2003).
¹⁰³ National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Resource Data, Tools, and Map, U.S. Annual Solar GHI, North Dakota, February 22, 2018.
¹⁰⁴ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, All states, Net generation for all sectors, annual, 2018–21.
¹⁰⁵ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P1, Primary Energy Production Estimates in Physical Units, 2019.
¹⁰⁶ Ethanol Producer Magazine, U.S. Ethanol Plants, All Platforms, Operational, updated December 13, 2021.
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¹¹² NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, North Dakota Net Metering, updated September 12, 2021.
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¹²¹ “‘Sovereignty by the Barrel’: Tribe Takes Control of Oil Production,” Indian Country Media Today (September 12, 2018).
¹²² Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, “MHA Nation breaks ground on greenhouse project,” Press Release (April 19, 2021).
¹²³ Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians TMBCI 10Y Energy, Environmental and Economic Development Platform, Department of Energy, Office of Indian Energy, Tribal Leader Forum Series (July 27, 2015).
¹²⁴ Sandia National Laboratories, Preliminary Assessment of Potential for Wind Energy Technology on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Reservation (January 2020), p. 29.
¹²⁵ Milbrandt, Anelia, Donna Heimiller, and Paul Schwabe, Techno-Economic Renewable Energy Potential on Tribal Lands (NREL/TP-6A20-70807), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (July 2018), p. 7, 11.
¹²⁶ Sisk, Amy “Past, present Standing Rock chairmen discuss wind farm progress,” The Bismarck Tribune (April 15, 2021).
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¹²⁸ Sisk, Amy, “Electric vehicles, charging stations coming to Standing Rock,” The Bismarck Tribune (December 7, 2021).
¹²⁹ U.S. Department of Energy, “Department of Energy to Fund 15 Tribal Energy Infrastructure Deployment Projects,” Press Release (August 15, 2018).
¹³⁰ Oleson, Louise, “First Net-Zero School on tribal land completed at Fort Totten,” Devils Lake Journal (August 30, 2017).
¹³¹ Trim Tab, “Fort Totten Builds First Zero Energy School on Tribal Land,” (December 13, 2017).