{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=8750F9C2-A4AB-4CBC-B33F-2362BA1627E7", "Heitkamp Underscores Need to Support Coal Innovation, Local Job Growth During Spiritwood Station Visit", "2016-11-07", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "SPIRITWOOD, N.D. \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today visited Great River Energy\u2019s (GRE) Spiritwood Station to see firsthand how, in two years since becoming fully operational, the high-efficiency coal-fired power plant generates electricity and steam to power homes and businesses in North Dakota while making serious reductions in emissions.\r\nHeitkamp played a key role in getting Spiritwood Station and the Dakota Spirit AgEnergy plant online by enabling the project to move forward after it hit some hurdles. When it started operation in 2014, Spiritwood Station became the first coal-fired generating plant to go online in North Dakota in more than 30 years.\r\nHeitkamp has long supported energy innovation in North Dakota to provide a strong path forward for coal \u2013 which North Dakotans rely on for almost 80 percent of their electricity \u2013 while working toward commonsense incentives to encourage new carbon technologies that can transform carbon emissions into useable products. During today\u2019s tour, Heitkamp spoke with GRE management and Spiritwood Station workers to discuss the plant\u2019s successes in coal innovation by helping boost local plant energy efficiency to 60 percent \u2013 that\u2019s almost 30 percent better than the national average \u2013 while employing 49 North Dakotans locally.\r\n\u201cWe can spark energy-efficient innovation, grow jobs here at home, and pave the way for a strong future for coal \u2013 and Spiritwood Station is a perfect example of how we\u2019re doing that in North Dakota,\u201d said Heitkamp. \u201cToday I got the chance to see firsthand how in just two years, Spiritwood is not only boosting the community\u2019s local economy by employing almost 50 North Dakotans, but serving as a national example of achieving better energy efficiency for coal-fired power plants at a rate that is nearly double the national average of coal-fired plants. We can build on Spiritwood\u2019s positive work, and I\u2019m working to do that in the U.S. Senate by bringing together a strong bipartisan coalition of senators who support my bill to secure coal\u2019s role in our national energy mix. Such commonsense policies would lower pollution, create more jobs, and support more affordable energy production to power our homes and businesses.\u201d\r\nAfter working together with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) to boost recognition that the U.S. and world need to maintain a diverse energy mix that includes traditional energy sources while still reducing national and global carbon emissions, Heitkamp and Whitehouse introduced their bill in July to forge a middle ground on energy issues. Already, their bill \u2013\u00a0which would incentivize the development and use of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies \u2013 has gained vast bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate.\r\nBackground: \r\nHeitkamp\u2019s work to find a realistic path forward for coal builds on her more than a decade of experience on the board of directors of Dakota Gasification, the one-of-a-kind synfuels plant in Beulah, N.D. During her service as North Dakota\u2019s Tax Commissioner, on the North Dakota Industrial Commission, and as the state\u2019s Attorney General, Heitkamp was able to work on viable solutions to make sure coal remains a strong part of the North Dakota\u2019s energy mix.\r\nSince joining the Senate, Heitkamp has been committed to finding a realistic avenue for clean coal by:\r\n \r\nSecuring a commitment in September 2015 from Janet McCabe, assistant administrator of the EPA, for her agency to send technical staff to North Dakota to work with utilities on the challenges in meeting EPA\u2019s emissions reduction targets.\u00a0During a meeting with the North Dakota congressional delegation the next day, McCabe again agreed to Heitkamp\u2019s request that EPA technical staff visit North Dakota.\u00a0\r\nIntroducing major legislation in 2013 and again in 2015 to put coal on a viable path forward.\u00a0Heitkamp\u2019s\u00a0bill\u00a0\u2013 which she introduced in 2013 and again this Congress \u2013 would incentivize companies to invest in technologies that reduce the carbon footprint of coal-fired power. This is done through federal funding programs, federal support for private investment, and recommendations to Congress that provide insight on how best to support future CCS projects in the U.S. Then in May 2015, Heitkamp and Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia introduced a\u00a0series of bills\u00a0to make sure coal remains a key part of America\u2019s energy mix, which incorporated Heitkamp\u2019s initial legislation.\r\nBringing EPA Administrator to North Dakota to talk about coal.\u00a0Heitkamp has made it clear to the Administration and EPA that she disagrees with the agency\u2019s policies regarding coal-fired power. After pressing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Heitkamp\u00a0brought McCarthy\u00a0to North Dakota in February of 2014 so she could hear about the impacts of EPA regulations directly from North Dakotans.\u00a0Heitkamp has also\u00a0brought U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz\u00a0to North Dakota in August 2014 to push the U.S. Department of Energy for more investment in clean coal technology.\r\nWorking closely with U.S. Energy Department (DOE) officials on finding a path forward for coal.\u00a0Heitkamp has met with numerous top officials from DOE about the need to find a path forward for coal, including\u00a0Energy Secretary Moniz and\u00a0Julio Friedmann, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal at the DOE. They both participated in clean coal symposiums at Heitkamp\u2019s request, and she will continue to press both of them on the issue.\r\nConvening industry, lawmakers, and academics to discuss a viable path forward for coal.\u00a0Heitkamp co-hosted a Coal Technology Symposium\u00a0on Capitol Hill in 2014 that brought together industry, lawmakers, experts and academics \u2013 including the Energy and Environmental Research Center from Grand Forks \u2013 to discuss the importance of finding a viable path forward for coal. To a crowded room, Heitkamp laid out why it is so important for our nation to put in place realistic energy policies and discussed the vital role coal plays in providing affordable energy in North Dakota and around the country.\r\n \r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=8750F9C2-A4AB-4CBC-B33F-2362BA1627E7"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1745048686861992, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}