North Dakota

Transmission

This novel power line could link 3 grids across 3 time zones

North Plains Connector has earned backing from the Energy Department and utilities, and could deliver huge cost and reliability benefits — if states give it the OK.

By Jeff St. John .

3 September 2026

Transmission tower and a blue sky — (Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Wind

Wind energy benefits North Dakota. So why has the state soured on it?

Turbines generate tax revenue and sizable payments for farmers, but development has slowed as the political winds have shifted.

By Daniel Cusick . 2 September 2026
ENN

Summit to make its carbon pipeline permit case again in North Dakota

The state's oil and gas industry wants to use carbon for enhanced oil recovery, but Summit doesn't see that in the near future.

By Jeff Beach . 22 April 2024
ENN

The Midwest’s grid operator is planning a massive new transmission buildout. Will it be enough?

The “Tranche 2” portfolio focuses on adding 765 kilovolt transmission “highways” across the region, while some stakeholders question whether it’s enough.

By Frank Jossi . 6 March 2024
ENN

Coal ash crackdown continues as EPA denies extensions for six power plants

The move signals the agency’s commitment to enforce 2015 federal rules that had been widely flaunted by companies and ignored by regulators.

By Kari Lydersen . 25 January 2023
ENN

North Dakota’s ‘cleanest crypto’ claim ignores state’s fossil fuel-powered grid

State officials are touting North Dakota as a destination for the “cleanest crypto on the planet.” But despite its wind energy resources, its electric grid emits more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour than the national average.

By Frank Jossi . 7 November 2022
ENN

After pipeline fights, tribes get chance to tell different story with electric vehicles

The U.S. Department of Energy this month awarded groups on the Standing Rock and Red Lake Indian reservations money for an inter-tribal electric vehicle charging network connecting communities in the Upper Midwest.

By Frank Jossi . 15 November 2021
ENN

The Midwest lost clean energy jobs in 2020, but there were signs of hope, new report says

Clean energy jobs in the region declined by about 9% last year amid pandemic-driven economic turbulence, but electric vehicles were a bright spot, adding jobs in states including Minnesota and Michigan.

By Kari Lydersen . 11 August 2021
ENN

Would Upper Midwest carbon capture pipelines offer a lifeline to coal plants?

The Sierra Club is warning that proposed carbon capture and sequestration infrastructure in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and the Dakotas may help extend the life of fossil fuel power plants.

By Karen Uhlenhuth . 21 July 2021
ENN

To maximize emission cuts, this Boston campus gets its power from the Midwest

Boston University prioritized impact over location in deciding to buy electricity from a South Dakota wind farm.

By Sarah Shemkus . 18 February 2021
ENN

Wind developers are retrofitting newer projects with bigger, better blades

Xcel Energy recently received approval to repower a pair of wind farms originally built in 2015 to take advantage of improved technology and expiring tax credits.

By Frank Jossi . 4 February 2021