The director of economic development and finance for the North Dakota Commerce Department says the proposed pipeline to bring Bakken natural gas to eastern North Dakota is a perfect example of energy and agriculture working together.
The Legislature approved $150 million in seed money to get that pipeline built. It will run along US 2.
Josh Teigen told the Legislature’s interim Energy Development and Transmission Committee there’s a lot of support for the proposed pipeline – especially in the east, from potential value-added ag projects. He said he’s heard from some people in the western part of the state that moving gas to the east will hurt the west’s chances for landing some value-added energy projects. And Teigen said that’s just not true.
"The east is going to continue to be more ag-focused," Teigen said. "In the west, it's more toward value-added energy."
Teigen said geologically, everything speaks to that continuing to happen in the two different halves of the state, with those two industries.
"All this does is boost our value-added ag industry," Teigen said. "It also helps our energy industry, by being able to move more gas."
Teigen said North Dakota has been losing some projects to other states that have access to Bakken gas, because of interstate pipelines.