Bending over

[Coalburner]

I was driving back from a wonderful weekend of fishing up in Tobacco Gardens and on my way home I happened to look out the window and see the dragline operating east of Underwood for Falkirk Mine and steam coming from the stacks of the Coal Creek station and thought to myself how sad the current situation is for thousands of families who will soon be in financial ruin, small towns that will be erased, and the states economy which will soon feel a hit as big as anything since Bobcat had shut down years ago. The laughable part was our lieutenant governor telling McClean county to be open to working with company that just royally fucked our state so we can appear energy friendly (what a joke). It got me thinking how much are normal hard working folks willing to take. It seems we bend over so much that we just stay in the assumed position. I always hear people say things like “be the bigger person” or “that will never happen” or “it’s not worth it.” On a local level I watched the NODAPL bullshit happen a few years ago and watched a bunch of malcontent scumbags come in and vandalize businesses, destroy property, threaten landowners and their families, and kill livestock and I am pretty sure all the losers down there got away with their lawlessness scot-free and left us to pick up the pieces. On a national level it’s worse - There are many examples but the one that sticks out to me is the fact that violent criminals are being let out of jail and a hard working salon owner trying to support her family and employees is put in jail for not complying with a radical leftist judge. It seems we are in a country of two different sets of rules - one set is where you or I make a small error hunting or fishing and we are subject to a large fine or loss of hunting/fishing privileges and another set of rules where you can loot and burn down central Baltimore and it is excused and encouraged because you needed to let out your anger. My question is just how much more are the hardworking and tax paying citizens willing to stomach or should we just get used to it and bend over.

 

[Skeeter]

What the hell can we do?? Not much. When GRE locks up part of their reclamation process should be to remove the transmission line in North Dakota to the minn border. Then watch the piece of shit blue platers scramble.

 

[agriffith]

Good post, I hope people read this and seriously think about it.

 

[Coalburner]

What the hell can we do?? Not much. When GRE locks up part of their reclamation process should be to remove the transmission line in North Dakota to the minn border. Then watch the piece of shit blue platers scramble.

I don’t know but apparently they need that power until 2022 maybe it’s time to shut it off and help them go green in the winter of 2020-2021. There needs to be a message sent to Minnesota that North Dakota is done taking there crap.

 

[Skeeter]

I don’t know but apparently they need that power until 2022 maybe it’s time to shut it off and help them go green in the winter of 2020-2021. There needs to be a message sent to Minnesota that North Dakota is done taking there crap.

I’ve been saying this for years. Flip the switch for a month in January and let the greenies see how reliable their shit is. They will come crawling back to coal.

 

[Obi-Wan]

I don’t know but apparently they need that power until 2022 maybe it’s time to shut it off and help them go green in the winter of 2020-2021. There needs to be a message sent to Minnesota that North Dakota is done taking there crap.

i was thinking the same thing maybe a walk off or strike would be nice, what are they going to do fire everyone? Maybe a good time would be when they retool spiritwood to natural gas. I doubt they would have enough power to keep the lights on.

 

[Skeeter]

https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/07/i...ts-its-first-grid-scale-battery-installation/


this is their plan. Can you imagine what this is going to cost Minnifornia! Their cheap coal power is going to double to recover this cost.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Maybe he is on to something. Rob port article


OPINION[h=1]Plain Talk: State's Attorney says if Great River closes their coal power plant, they should take down their transmission line too[/h]
Written By: Rob Port | May 11th 2020 - 11am.

justification for constructing the power transmission line that services it across acres and acres of prime North Dakota farmland (to the consternation of many farmers at the time) was that the coal plant would generate economic activity.
Erickson is the State's Attorney for McLean County, which is home to Coal Creek, and he believes that if Great River Energy wants to shut down and deconstruct their coal power plant, then they ought to take down their power line too and return the land it's using to farmers.
"North Dakota has no economic interested in the power line," he said on this episode of Plain Talk.
Coal Creek is North Dakota's largest coal-fired power plant. Great River Energy has said they want to find a buyer for the plant, but if they can't, they will shut it down in two years.
"We hope they're sincere in this effort to sell the plant," Erickson told me, but added that he doesn't believe they can. It's a tough sell for another company to take over that power plant without access to Great River's transmission line.
That line serving Coal Creek is extremely valuable. It delivers to the Minnesota market and, if the coal plant is shut down, could be used to transport power generated by wind turbines, but Erickson doesn't believe Great River should get to do that.
"The power plant, the mine, and the power line is all one piece of infrastructure," he says, noting the project was regulated that way when it was built and should be treated that way now, too.

 

[Rowdie]

Would it be possible to start a cooperative or could everyone just chip in and buy it?

 

[CatDaddy]

Would it be possible to start a cooperative or could everyone just chip in and buy it?

If it happened with Mexican vanilla, it can happen with coal. Believe it's possible!

 

[Bfishn]

You don’t even have to buy it, they are trying to give it away. In the meantime a worker forced shutdown in midwinter sure would be interesting to see.

 

[shorthairsrus]

I want to see that smoke stack smokin. I am litterly freezing my balls of. Membership drive

 

[eyexer]

Are the workers union?

 

[Rowdie]

Any members of MorGranSou on here. Why couldn't they take it over and sell the power to themselves?

 

[sl1000794]

Do they want to just decommission the power plant but keep the transmission line(s) to carry their wind power to Minnesota? A power plant that is marginally profitable without transmission lines to a customer that needs the power would be worth ZERO $! Where could Coal Creek sell their power and how would they come up with the $$$ and right-of-ways to build new transmission lines?

In the '70's and early 80's I worked for CE Lummus Co. that was involved in the design and construction of the Coal Gasification Plant, but I went elsewhere in 1981 before it was built so never worked on it.

 

[Happycamper]

I can’t think of a better use for spending some of the Legacy Fund or $$ from the Land & Mineral Trust Fund to save this industry. Every North Dakotan has skin in this game and we should all rally to the cause

 

[Retired Educator]

I have no idea the route my electricity takes to arrive at my home or who supplies the power. I do know my electric comes from a Minnesota company, Otter Tail Power Company. This company serves much of North Dakota I believe. It was a pretty economical electric bill until they began adding on the "Energy Tax."

So, if ND was to demand all the transmission lines that run from ND to Minn, where would the power come from? Seems to be kind of a Catch-22. Drove the Bismarck yesterday, round trip of about 400 miles. Passed several wind farms and with the calm winds there was barely a wind turbine turning. Very reliable power it seems.

Also heard a radio program during the trip where Carbon collection was the discussion. There are companies working on collection the excess Carbon and actually trying to develop a use for that Carbon to the point where money could be made from selling that collected Carbon.

One thing that I would like to know is how much actual pollution do these coal plants produce. They've been in exsistence for many years and never notice any visible clouds of pollution, etc. Drive in LA and you can actually see the pollution in the air on many days. Is it actually a problem in this sate considering the improvement that have been made to make coal burning cleaner?

 

[guywhofishes]

As I drove past I would always look for the odd yellow/brown streak of emissions in the sky when driving by the gasification plant - it’s kind of obvious and yet hidden at the same time. Sort of like a mirage - hard to explain. It would often extend off into the horizon - it never seemed to dissipate.

 

[JayKay]

What the hell can we do?? Not much. When GRE locks up part of their reclamation process should be to remove the transmission line in North Dakota to the minn border. Then watch the piece of shit blue platers scramble.

Oh how I wish.

This idea of a worker shut-down... not a bad idea. What are they gonna do? Let everybody go early?

Although, I suppose they could threaten to withhold the retirement, if there is going to be any?..

 

[eyexer]

They’ve been working on carbon capture for a long time now. And the coal fired plants are extremely clean now. Most of what you actually see I think is water vapor.