International Business News - ND http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif Full exploitation of the oil-rich Bakken shale formation in western North Dakota will require extensive infrastructure expansion so oilmen do not idle rigs, government and industry officials say. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080904/nd-bakken-potential-stunted-by-infrastructure.htm Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:04:24 EDT North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson says the state's potato farmers are scrambling to gather seed potatoes for an anticipated shipment to Cuba. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080829/north-dakota-cuban-potato-deal-may-be-nearer.htm Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:00:27 EDT U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer says a backlash against ethanol production may be easing as consumers realize the alternative fuel's value and begin doubting arguments that it is to blame for soaring food prices. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080828/nd-ag-secretary-defends-ethanol-promotes-tech.htm Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:02:26 EDT Construction on a new 149-megawatt wind farm in north central North Dakota should begin this fall, a company spokesman said, almost three years after state regulators approved the project's location north of Rugby. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080828/delayed-nd-wind-project-has-new-owner.htm Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:17:01 EDT Industry officials say they are mystified by fuel shortages at terminals in the Upper Midwest in recent days, but they expect enough supplies for the Labor Day holiday weekend. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080827/some-fuel-terminals-have-short-term-outages.htm Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:13:19 EDT North Dakota regulators say a recent spike in Otter Tail Power Co.'s electric prices could not be avoided. The state Public Service Commission says it has closed an investigation into the increase. It hit most of Otter Tail's 57,000 electric customers from January until May. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080827/nd-regulators-say-electric-price-spike-unavoidable.htm Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:20:52 EDT U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer says the agency is using federal aid to promote rural access to high-speed Internet connections. The former North Dakota governor spoke at a state Commerce Department economic development conference in Bismarck. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080827/schafer-us-ag-dept-promoting-broadband-access.htm Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:02:43 EDT North Dakota's Public Service Commission is endorsing a planned $1.2 billion expansion of South Dakota's Big Stone power plant. Otter Tail Power Co. and Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. had asked state regulators to rule in advance that the project is justified. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080827/power-plant-expansion-gets-nd-regulators-blessing.htm Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:54:46 EDT A brief mention in a half-century-old document has led an Australian company to a large and valuable deposit of high-grade germanium, a scarce silicon-like mineral used in making semiconductors, transistors and fiber optic cables. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080826/company-finds-scarce-mineral-in-nd-coal-seam.htm Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:17:34 EDT North Dakota's elected officials should not appear in taxpayer-financed public service announcements, says a state senator who plans to introduce legislation to ban the practice. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080825/proposal-would-restrict-nd-officeholders-ads.htm Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:20:19 EDT Critics of North Dakota's pharmacy ownership laws say they are preventing residents from getting cheap prescription medicine at chain drug stores. The Legislature's interim Industry, Business and Labor Committee is considering the issue. The panel has made no decisions yet. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080822/battle-joined-over-nd-pharmacy-ownership-laws.htm Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:48:20 EDT Billionaire Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens pitched his alternative energy plan on a day when the wind was gusting up to 40 mph and oil prices soared by more than $5 a barrel. He found a favorable audience. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080821/oilman-pickens-pitches-energy-plan-in-north-dakota.htm Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:31:10 EDT The North Dakota Farmers Union is planning to open a second restaurant in the nation's capital next month, this time focusing on sustainable agriculture and eco-friendly dining. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080821/nd-farmers-union-opening-second-dc-restaurant.htm Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:18:30 EDT North Dakota should push for 10,000 megawatts of wind power development in the next 12 years along with local ownership of wind projects, the Democratic candidate for governor says. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080821/nd-gov-candidate-proposes-wind-power-goal.htm Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:34:51 EDT North Dakota's corrections department is setting up an electronic mail system for inmates this fall, to provide what officials hope will be a cheaper and less troublesome option for keeping in touch. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080818/nd-prison-system-to-offer-e-mail-for-inmates.htm Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:16:44 EDT North Dakota's congressional delegation says the University of North Dakota is getting a $1 million federal grant to study the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and eastern Montana and ways to tap its oil. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080813/nd-university-gets-1m-to-study-oil-deposit-area.htm Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:53:25 EDT A North Dakota dental insurer is paying about $7.8 million in refunds to about 2,200 business customers. Dental Services Corp. President Tim Huckle says the payments should go out by the end of September. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080813/nd-dental-insurer-approves-7-8m-in-refunds.htm Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:09:44 EDT A company building a $381 million wind project along the North Dakota-South Dakota border says its plant is up and running. Acciona Wind Energy USA LLC said its Tatanka Wind Farm has 120 wind turbines in the two states--in North Dakota's Dickey County and South Dakota's McPherson County--capable of generating about 180 megawatts of power. The company says that will be enough for more than 60,000 homes. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080811/wind-project-along-nd-sd-border-up-and-running.htm Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:09:16 EDT Delays and production glitches have been common on major computer projects in North Dakota government. Now, the state Legislature, which is laboring to replace its own computer system, is getting its own lesson on how treacherous the job can be. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080811/revamp-of-nd-legislatures-computer-system-delayed.htm Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:13:56 EDT A new program in North Dakota aims to put less greenhouse gas in the air and more ducks in the sky. A Grand Forks-based regional partnership funded by the federal Energy Department to study the storage of carbon dioxide in the ground--a fledgling technology known as sequestration--is teaming up with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Unlimited on a carbon credit program. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080808/new-nd-carbon-credit-program-aims-to-help-ducks.htm Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:42:41 EDT