Economic Research
Economic ResearchTopic - Energy
Busting bottlenecks in the Bakken
In the district’s oil patch, massive investment in transportation facilities is easing the flow of energy to market
Phil Davies
April 2013 - fedgazette
Dealing with gas
Long-neglected natural gas is undergoing its own infrastructure boom focused on high-value gas liquids
Phil Davies
April 2013 - fedgazette
Working on the railroad - and the pipeline
Phil Davies
April 2013 - fedgazette
Three Affiliated Tribes to build oil refinery
January 2013 - Community Dividend
North Dakota oil boom squeezes seniors who rent
The surging energy industry in the Bakken oil patch may be making life harder for some area residents, particularly the elderly.
Jacob Wascalus
October 2012 - Community Dividend
Minneapolis Fed Directors Tour Bakken Oil Patch
David Fettig
September 2012 - Board of Directors
Sand surge
In Minnesota and Wisconsin, frac sand mining has lifted local economies—and stirred opposition
Phil Davies
July 2012 - fedgazette
Desperately seeking workers in the oil patch
Jobs go begging in booming western North Dakota and northeastern Montana
Phil Davies
April 2012 - fedgazette
Solar Electric Installations by State
Cumulative grid-connected capacity (MW) as of 2010
January 2012 - fedgazette
Solar forecast: Sunny with a chance of rain
Solar-electric installs have surged in the district, but the industry remains dependent on subsidies
Phil Davies
January 2012 - fedgazette
Energizing Native economies: Tribes build corporate governance to spur investment and development
Some American Indian tribes are overhauling their corporate governance structures in order to facilitate energy projects and other economic development on tribal lands.
Paula Woessner
January 2012 - Community Dividend
A new look at hydropower
Thanks to new technology and recent tax incentives, new energy proposals are coming to district rivers
Frank Jossi
October 2011 - fedgazette
Hydro in the Ninth District
October 2011 - fedgazette
homeWORD receives 2011 Innovation Award
July 2011 - Community Dividend
Transportation partnership offers economic hope in north central Montana
For many residents of Montana's Hi-Line region, an innovative transit partnership provides the means to pursue an education, commute to work, or access important services.
Sue Woodrow, Day Soriano
January 2011 - Community Dividend
Adopting a place-conscious approach to community development: A conversation with Margery Austin Turner of the Urban Institute
Community Dividend speaks with Margery Austin Turner, Vice President for Research at the Urban Institute's Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, to learn about her comprehensive, thought
Sandy Gerber
October 2010 - Community Dividend
Ninth District community developers use green innovations to help make housing affordable
For affordable housing developers, the goal of "going green" is not only to provide permanent shelter and community stabilization at a lower cost, but to provide low-income families with long-term red
Deborah Booth Summers
October 2010 - Community Dividend
Pedal to the metal in the Bakken
After a slowdown, North Dakota’s oil industry is going full bore
Phil Davies
June 2010 - fedgazette
CRF to launch green loan program for small businesses
November 2009 - Community Dividend
After the oil rush
In the Williston Basin, less drilling activity has created uncertainty about the future
Phil Davies
September 2009 - fedgazette
Vroom Vroom Vroom
2008-2009 Essay Contest Winner
Jacob Devine
September 2009 - The Region
Run over by gas
E85 is losing the battle with cheap gas, but promise for ethanol might lurk in other blends
Frank Jossi
March 2009 - fedgazette
How to Save Gas
Pricing mechanisms, not fuel-economy standards,
offer the best hope for reducing motor fuel consumption
Phil Davies
December 2008 - The Region
Burn, baby burn
Michigan State Roundup
November 2008 - fedgazette
Burying the new jar of money
North Dakota State Roundup
November 2008 - fedgazette
Jumper cables tied to wind
South Dakota State Roundup
November 2008 - fedgazette
Whistling past the graveyard
North Dakota State Roundup
November 2008 - fedgazette
As long as we're taking emissions
Wisconsin State Roundup
September 2008 - fedgazette
Gale forces
North Dakota State Roundup
September 2008 - fedgazette
Oil refinery gets referendum passage
South Dakota State Roundup
September 2008 - fedgazette
Timberrrr ethanol
Michigan State Roundup
September 2008 - fedgazette
Dueling power plants
Montana State Roundup
July 2008 - fedgazette
Turning carbon into cash
Offsetting greenhouse-gas emissions is a burgeoning district industry with an uncertain future.
Phil Davies
July 2008 - fedgazette
Wind power: Huffing and puffing
North Dakota State Roundup
May 2008 - fedgazette
Letter to the Editor
March 2008 - fedgazette
Ethanol plants stopping, starting
North Dakota State Roundup
January 2008 - fedgazette
New business blowing into the state
South Dakota State Roundup
January 2008 - fedgazette
Synthesizing an energy market
North Dakota State Roundup
January 2008 - fedgazette
Putting a Price on Carbon
To address global warming, most economists favor a focus on prices, not quantities.
Phil Davies
December 2007 - The Region
Blowing down a wind farm
Montana State Roundup
November 2007 - fedgazette
Grid and bear it
We all pay dearly when congestion chokes the electrical system. A resurgence of transmission investment in the district promises relief—if new lines actually get built.
Phil Davies
November 2007 - fedgazette
All revved up over biofuels designation
Wisconsin State Roundup
September 2007 - fedgazette
Getting powerful windy out there
North Dakota State Roundup
September 2007 - fedgazette
Letters to the Editor
Response to July 2007 fedgazette.
September 2007 - fedgazette
State might be getting more refined
South Dakota State Roundup
September 2007 - fedgazette
Builders see green
Ninth District joins a growing trend in green construction.
Kathy Cobb
July 2007 - fedgazette
Green at any price?
Renewable-energy mandates raise lots of questions for electric utilities and consumers.
Phil Davies
July 2007 - fedgazette
Tax breaks make it easy to be green
Montana State Roundup
July 2007 - fedgazette
Watt if: Estimating the rate impact of RPSs
Phil Davies
July 2007 - fedgazette
Wind cranking power
South Dakota State Roundup
July 2007 - fedgazette
“Re-regulating” NorthWestern Energy
Montana State Roundup
July 2007 - fedgazette
On the energy menu: More sun, wind, water
Minnesota State Roundup
May 2007 - fedgazette
Pipelines to feed the beast
This nation's rapacious appetite for oil products and Canada's vast supply spur district pipeline projects.
Kathy Cobb
May 2007 - fedgazette
Spreading the oil wealth
North Dakota State Roundup
May 2007 - fedgazette
Ethanol: Pump it up
Minnesota State Roundup
March 2007 - fedgazette
How have lower heating fuel costs and a warmer winter affected your operations this season?
District Voices
March 2007 - fedgazette
Paying more for the juice
Michigan State Roundup
March 2007 - fedgazette
Judith Gap expansion in the wind
Montana State Roundup
January 2007 - fedgazette
Amber waves of biodiesel
Biodiesel production is growing fast in the district, but the renewable fuel isn't likely to save rural economies or help the country kick its oil habit.
Joe Mahon
September 2006 - fedgazette
BPA to lower energy rates
Montana State Roundup
September 2006 - fedgazette
Escanaba looking for more juice
Michigan State Roundup
September 2006 - fedgazette
Energy drives district farmers' planting decisions
Toby Madden
July 2006 - fedgazette
Renewable energy mandates sought for cities
North Dakota State Roundup
July 2006 - fedgazette
State unveils major power and energy project
North Dakota State Roundup
July 2006 - fedgazette
What power monopoly?
Montana State Roundup
July 2006 - fedgazette
A might breezy today (and every day)
Minnesota State Roundup
May 2006 - fedgazette
Regulation revisited
Montana State Roundup
May 2006 - fedgazette
Taking the shears to fuel costs
District businesses are turning to hedging as a way to cope with higher, more volatile energy prices.
Joe Mahon
May 2006 - fedgazette
An energized state: The year of the megawatt
North Dakota State Roundup
March 2006 - fedgazette
Biodiesel law sputters at the gun
Minnesota State Roundup
March 2006 - fedgazette
Pay less at the pump for bumpier roads
Wisconsin State Roundup
March 2006 - fedgazette
Molding a new industry
Recent oil pressures have threatened the recovery of the district's plastics industry, but firms can cope by adapting.
Joe Mahon
January 2006 - fedgazette
PPL rate ruling near
Montana State Roundup
January 2006 - fedgazette
Fickle like the wind
Wind farming is booming again in the district, but the industry remains dependent on federal subsidy.
Phil Davies
November 2005 - fedgazette
Four projects kick off "green" initiative in Minnesota
November 2005 - Community Dividend
Gasoline prices climb in response to hurricanes
Rob Grunewald
November 2005 - fedgazette
Sure wind power can make it on its own ...
... with a little help from turbine manufacturers, pollution regulators, power line builders and the overall energy economy
Phil Davies
November 2005 - fedgazette
Tougher mercury controls sought
Montana State Roundup
November 2005 - fedgazette
Big power, big money
South Dakota State Roundup
September 2005 - fedgazette
Black gold rush
High oil prices have brought happy days to the oil-producing parts of the district
Joe Mahon
September 2005 - fedgazette
Lighting up Big Sky, dereg style
Electricity deregulation comes to Montana—so far, to the cheers of some and the chagrin of many.
Frank Jossi
September 2005 - fedgazette
Alcohol buzz
North Dakota State Roundup
May 2005 - fedgazette
Hot gas over renewables
Minnesota State Roundup
May 2005 - fedgazette
Letters to the Editor
Letter to the editor on the March 2005 fedgazette.
May 2005 - fedgazette
How have high heating costs affected your alternative energy business?
District Voices
March 2005 - fedgazette
NorthWestern Energy invests in wind power
Montana State Roundup
March 2005 - fedgazette
Proposed Ninth District Coal-Fired Plants
Map of Proposed Ninth District Coal-Fired Plants
September 2004 - fedgazette
The new coal rush
Rising energy needs and relaxed regulations fuel a resurgence.
Frank Jossi
September 2004 - fedgazette
Wind turbine to power tribal college
August 2004 - Community Dividend
District ag and natural resource industries boosted by high prices
Amy Stittsworth, Rob Grunewald
July 2004 - fedgazette
Letters to the Editor
Comments on fedgazette articles on ethanol and exports.
September 2003 - fedgazette
North Dakota now has options
North Dakota State Roundup
September 2003 - fedgazette
State gets a new kind of farm
South Dakota State Roundup
September 2003 - fedgazette
Gentlemen, start your ethanol engines
Thanks to government-induced demand, ethanol production is on the fast track in the district.
Frank Jossi
July 2003 - fedgazette
Coalbed Methane Basins
United States Map of Coalbed Methane Basins
January 2003 - fedgazette
The next gold rush, or gold bust?
Montana debates benefits, costs of coalbed methane
Frank Jossi
January 2003 - fedgazette
What lies beneath
The bills come due for hardrock mining's toxic past
Douglas Clement
November 2002 - fedgazette
Letters to the Editor
Comments on previous fedgazette articles on feedlots and alternative energy.
September 2001 - fedgazette
Considering the alternatives
Rapidly rising energy costs and shrinking supplies are sparking creativity and generating new power sources
Douglas Clement
July 2001 - fedgazette
Emerging Micropower Technologies
Douglas Clement
March 2001 - fedgazette
Micropower: The next big thing?
New electricity technologies promise power to the people, but the revolution may be delayed
Douglas Clement
March 2001 - fedgazette
What's a watt?
What's a watt? A primer
Douglas Clement
March 2001 - fedgazette
Blowin' in the wind
Underneath the chaos of electricity deregulation, part of the answer (my friend) to future energy needs might be wind generation
Ronald A. Wirtz
January 2001 - fedgazette
Coal powers district electricity production
January 2001 - fedgazette
Corn farmers not alone on the ethanol bandwagon
Ronald A. Wirtz
January 2001 - fedgazette
Ethanol in the Ninth District
Ethanol Plants in Ninth District States
Ronald A. Wirtz
January 2001 - fedgazette
Power Struggle
Deregulation, once seen as inevitable in the electric industry, is now on the backburner in most Ninth District states
Douglas Clement
January 2001 - fedgazette
Pulling the plug on electricity deregulation?
As policymakers seek reliable power grids, utilities and large consumers cope with an uncertain regulatory future
Douglas Clement
January 2001 - fedgazette
Status of Electricity Deregulation in Ninth District States
December 2000
Ronald A. Wirtz
January 2001 - fedgazette
Under the Influence
All engines are go for the the ethanol industry, but whether that continues hinges on fickle consumers and government policy
Ronald A. Wirtz
January 2001 - fedgazette
Montana's blasting into (aero)space
Rosie Cataldo
October 2000 - fedgazette
Value-added energy drives North Dakota's lignite coal industry
Kathy Cobb
October 1996 - fedgazette
