Darrin Davis, maintenance field technician, along with family, friends and his son’s teachers, took a stand against autism by supporting the Autism Walk June 12 at Horizon Middle School in Bismarck, ND.

His son Brennan, who is now eight, was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old.

Darrin Davis' son, Brennan, at the Autism Walk in Bismarck on June 12.

Autism is a neurological disorder affecting social interaction, mental development and behavior.

The varying degrees of autism have proven a challenge because each individual must be cared for specifically regarding their abilities, needs and sensitivities.

Darrin and Brennan.

“Most families can just jump up and go somewhere if they want without any preparation and us, we have to prep him for it and explain to him what is going to occur there, who will be there, for how many minutes we will be there, how long it will take to get there in minutes. As you can tell, his time right now is all dealt in minutes. We also have a daily picture schedule for him at home and a monthly one so he has an idea of what will be going on. If things change we have to forewarn him. If not, a lot of the times that’s when you will see the meltdowns,” Davis says.

Davis believes a strong support system is important for autistic individuals and their families. His own family is proof of this. His daughter Taley, who is 10 years old, is not only a sister to Brennan, but a teacher and protector. “She sees his differences and tries to teach her peers about him and why he acts certain ways when he does. She also knows when to not let him get away with things just because he has a disability. She has so much compassion for other kids, not knowing what may be going on. So she really has grown up respecting everyone for their individuality,” Davis says.

Gracie, Brennan’s one-year-old sister is also a teacher for Brennan despite her young age. Davis says, “We have seen how much more compassionate he has become since having her. We were really worried about how he would handle it when she cried or screamed and he’s really adjusted and learned ways to cope with these issues. We see so much interaction within the two of them, things we never saw him do before. So it’s almost like she’s teaching him the things he never really learned at that age.”

Having an autistic child is not easy. “You learn a whole new way of living life. Unless you choose to not live a full life because of this,” Davis says. “It is really hard to put in words, and not in great length, what our lives have been like since the diagnosis and the impact it has on just one family. Every child is so different so it affects every family so differently. We have truly been blessed with the support we have from everyone that surrounds us and Brennan; but more so by being given the chance in life to truly make the difference in the life of a child. We are the lucky ones.”

One of Davis’ goals is to create awareness that Autism is a true neurological disorder and remind others not to be so judgmental. He says, “These children look like the norm, but it’s their behaviors that they cannot control due to the disability and so many people think that you have a child that needs to be ‘put into place’ or ‘spanked’ or we’re just parents whom can’t ‘control our child’. If we teach the community about what is really going on at least then they may be a little more understanding.”

He says overall, individuals, including strangers, tend to be understanding of Brennan’s disorder. It’s thanks to the understanding of many family members, friends and others who contributed to the Autism Walk that the Davis family has really been able to come together and help create a success story out of Brennan’s condition.

The Davis family expresses their thanks to all who supported the walk and continue to support their family.

Kelby Hovey, assistant pilot for Basin Electric, arrived in Djibouti, Africa, in April 2009. Her deployment with Detachment 42 of the North Dakota Army National Guard was complete in February.

Dakota Gasification Company employee Jill Thomas, warehouse supervisor, has been serving with the 231 Maneuver Task Force in Kosovo since September 2009. She will continue serving in Kosovo until the end of summer.

Basin Electric employee Kim Miller, business analyst, had been serving in Kosovo with the same unit as Thomas. She was one of about 160 soldiers who returned to the United States on Sunday, May 9. She’ll be stationed at Camp Atterbury in Indiana for demobilization processing.

Today at The Chamber (1640 Burnt Boat Drive, Bismarck), the Military Affairs Task Force will be hosting a barbeque for military members in honor of Military Appreciation Month. It’s called Brats for the Brave. Basin Electric is a sponsor.

Great Plains Synfuels Plant

Paul Quist, manager of marketing development at Dakota Gasification Company, had the chance to attend the 2010 Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and Expo May 2-4. The major topic of discussion was the vast amount of oil discovered the Bakken and Three Forks formations in western North Dakota. “The whole excitement here is unbelievable. People are coming up to the booths and buying equipment on site, which is unheard of,” Quist says.

Although there are glitches involving housing shortages in the Williston, ND, area because of the oil boom, Quist sees a bright future in the western part of the state for Dakota Gas. Watch the video below for more.

Quist says Dakota Gas is learning to fill specific niches as opportunities arise.

He says enhanced oil recovery can increase production by 30 percent in an oil field. Right now, CO2 from the Great Plains Synfuels Plant is being used in Canada for enhanced oil recovery.

If the technology is used in North Dakota, he says it could be a great benefit for Basin Electric’s member co-ops and possibly their member-consumers who own mineral rights.

Dakota Gas is also exploring new markets to use byproducts such as krypton and xenon, which are produced at the Synfuels Plant.

“We are looking to pick up some North Dakota customers, keep our CO2 in North Dakota and enhance the tax revenue for the state,” Quist says.

Peabody Energy 2009 Annual Report

Their 2009 Annual Report features a page showing carbon capture and storage projects around the world. Dakota Gasification Company‘s Great Plains Synfuels Plant is pictured.

Click this link and go to page 8 of the PDF (page 12 of the report): Peabody Energy 2009 Annual Report

The Synfuels Plant is home to the largest coal-based carbon dioxide capture project in the world.

Daryl Beam, protection services specialist, discusses the decontamination shelter and its features with National Guard team members.

The 22-person civil support team was formed in 2005 as a full-time team, according to Lieutenant Colonel Larry Shireley, commander of the team. The team is trained for two years and must pass a certification process. Shireley explained that the team is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can be dispatched in 60 minutes and unlike most response agencies, the National Guard provides services at no cost.

The team responds to anything from suspicious mailings to hurricane and tornado recovery. Shireley says part or all of the team can be requested, depending on the situation.

(From left) Shayne Lee, safety representative, and Dick Sheldon, senior industrial hygienist, listen while the National Guard team explains how they can collect samples.

Warren Herman, protection services crew chief, says that hosting the group at the Synfuels Plant provided valuable information regarding the support capabilities available in the event of a class four emergency at the plant or a pipeline emergency. “A class four emergency is when DGC’s incident command staff realizes our response capabilities will soon be taxed and outside assistance will be needed,” Herman says. “Knowing the response timetable of the Civil Support Team and the expertise they can provide is extremely valuable information.”

By injury free, the teams are shooting for no recordable injuries this turnaround season. “It would be great if the entire workforce could come through a turnaround season with no injuries or recordable incidents,” says Kelly Cozby, safety and industrial hygiene superintendent. A recordable incident is typically an injury that requires more than just first aid attention.

Employees will notice many posters hanging around the plant to remind them to work safely. Also, Brad Gardner of Helping Hand Presentations has been at the Synfuels Plant from April 11 through today, giving presentations daily.

Several members of the PRIDE team heard Gardner’s presentation at a conference and were impressed. They are excited they could bring him to the Synfuels Plant to share his message with all the employees.

“Our goal is always to have employees return home safely at the end of a work day,” Cozby says. “In the past, our maintenance turnarounds have been ridden with injuries the first few days and then we have to focus on catching up the rest of the turnaround. We want to start out thinking about safety before 2010 turnaround season even begins!”

A Jay Poeppel, left, with one arm restricted, and Bob Fagerstrom, right, blinded folded, race to see who can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich quicker. The exercise demonstrated how life can be with a lost limb or sense.

More than 60 welders and others are working 24-hours a day, six days a week on the tub of the new dragline at the Freedom Mine near Beulah, ND. The tub is the base the dragline sits and rotates on.

Dean Jones, project manager for The Coteau Properties Company, says the contractor mobilized in January and started work the first week of February. Completion is scheduled to be in July 2011.

The dragline is a Bucyrus Erie 2570W. Its bucket will scrape up 124-cubic yards of soil at a time. The dragline will be able to make one scoop every minute, with a rated suspended load of 540,000 pounds.

Jones says the dragline is needed to handle the increased stripping capacity at the mine; in other words, there is more soil covering the coal in the area to be mined next. Jones says the new dragline will help meet the long term demand for lignite coal for the Antelope Valley Station, Leland Olds Station and the Great Plains Synfuels Plant.

Here are a couple videos we’ve done that show draglines in action: one walking and one digging.

The Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, ND, is the only commercial scale plant of its kind in the United States, and one of only two in the world. It also boasts the world’s largest coal-based carbon dioxide capture project.

The reporters from the Evansville Courier & Press wanted to see the Synfuels Plant and talk to people here about its economic and environmental impacts.

The Evansville Courier & Press ran a two part series on the issue.

Part 1: A model to follow? Plant broke ground for Rockport plan – March 20, 2010

Part 2: Fueling a small town: Gasification plant brought jobs, stability to ailing rural N.D. area – March 28, 2010

They also got some video while at the plant.

In 2010, they’re in the top three money-raisers for Basin Electric’s St. Baldrick’s efforts.

The Good, The Bald and The Ugly hold their event in the lobby at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant.

In 2009, one particular story grabbed everyone’s attention.

Little Aiden Perkins was much smaller (just two months old) at the 2009 event.

Myron had been planning to shave his head for St. Baldrick’s; he’d been growing his hair out for months. But when little Aiden had to have surgery just a couple weeks before the 2009 event, Myron was given extra resolve to raise money for childhood cancer research.

This year, Aiden watched Grandpa Myron go bald for a second time.

Myron Jorgenson goes bald for a second time.

Myron says Aiden has been undergoing treatments since last year. A couple weeks ago, Aiden’s CT scan showed he’s completely healthy. The port that was used to deliver medicine is being taken out on Monday.

The first report was produced for Dakota Gas in 2007 as part of an effort to become an American Chemistry Council-certified Responsible Care Company®. The Responsible Care program is designed to help companies structure their management system so that safety, environmental and security issues are addressed in a manner that goes beyond levels required by the federal government.

Dakota Gas passed the initial certification audit in December 2008, and will renew its certification in July. Certification audits every take place every three years after that.

The report lists goals that have been achieved over the past year and gives an explanation for how each goal was met. It also lists goals for the upcoming year.

“That is the main purpose of this report – to show we’re setting and meeting goals. A reader can look at reports from each year, and see if we did what we said we were going to do. The report demonstrates our dedication to accountability,” says Dale Johnson, technical services manager at Dakota Gas. Johnson previously served as health, safety and environmental manager at Dakota Gas.

The Responsible Care Performance Reports can be found in the visitors’ center at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, and also in the communications area at Basin Electric Headquarters. Also, find it online at this link: DGC’s 2009 Respsonsible Care Performance Report

The revenue-sharing agreement was signed when Dakota Gas bought the Great Plains Synfuels Plant — a coal gasification plant located near Beulah, N.D. As part of the sale agreement, Dakota Gas agreed to share revenue from gas sales with the DOE through 2009.

Gary Loop, Dakota Gas’ chief operating officer, says this latest payment is the last one to be made as part of the revenue sharing agreement. He said the 20-year agreement expired in 2009, and no further payments will be made in future years.

The payment is the ninth payment under the terms of the revenue-sharing agreement. The total amount paid to DOE – as part of the revenue-sharing agreements – now grows to $388.8 million since the sale of the plant to Basin Electric.

Find more detail at this link: Dakota Gas pays $7.1 million to DOE

U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, BEPC CEO Ron Harper, DGC COO Gary Loop, U.S. Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar.

A new lighting system highlights the scale model of the Synfuels Plant built in the early 1980s. Three new interactive displays feature the process, coproducts and economic value the plant offers.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar visits Great Plains Synfuels Plant in April 2009.

The 18-month renovation also brought information previously displayed on the first level of the facility to the model room. Thirty-two display panels now line the model room, providing coal facts, construction statistics, process unit information, directions on how pipelines are built, and a variety of other information.

Another added feature includes three 32-inch flat screen televisions that show the scrubber, ammonia plant and carbon capture processes at the Synfuels Plant. These units were added after the model and original construction of the plant, so they are not included on the scale model. To ensure all visitors can take in the whole experience, an elevator was also added during the recent renovation.

More than 3,200 people have visited the Synfuels Plant through the end of September.

Book a tour of the Synfuels Plant at this link: Synfuels Plant Tours

Check out this Nov/Dec 2009 Basin Today story on our Web site: Extreme Makeover: Synfuels Plant edition

Jeff Kopp and Jesse Roth, employees at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant.

Dakota Gas is donating $1 (up to $600) to Sakakawea Hospice during the month of December for every PRIDE card that is filled out correctly.

The PRIDE committee developed the observation card about a year ago to record safe and at risk behaviors performed during a “time-slice” of a job task. The results of the observations are a springboard to a safer workplace by identifying at risk behaviors that sometimes get overlooked while performing a job.

Sakakawea Hospice is a not-for-profit organization that provides services such as nursing; physicians; assistance with medication; physical, occupational and speech-language therapy; Home Health aides; medical supplies/equipment; inpatient care, including respite care; licensed social work; spiritual counseling; dietary and other needs; continuous care during periods of crisis; specially trained volunteers; and bereavement services.

The Kaylor boys get a photo taken with Santa Claus.

Santa and Mrs. Claus make an appearance at the breakfast each year.

J.R. Kaylor is an area maintenace supervisor at the plant. He and his boys (Dawson, age 7; Kaison, age 5; Jakson, age 3) took in the Visitors’ Center Model Room.

Jakson, J.R., Dawson and Kaison Kaylor visit the Great Plains Synfuels Plant.

The Kaylor boys find themselves in the model room!

They didn’t realize they were featured on one of the interactive displays in the model room!

The family is pictured on the final display at the end of the tour. The display discusses the economic impact the coal industry has on the area. The Kaylors are pictured to depict happy family time. They seem to be the perfect choice.

The project, designed to test the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from a conventional coal- based power plant, is viewed as a potential technical solution to address climate change while keeping coal based electricity as an integral part of our nation’s energy footprint.

Antelope Valley Station is located near Beulah, North Dakota.

Basin Electric’s board of directors authorized an agreement with Doosan Babcock Energy, and technology providers HTC Purenergy, to conduct a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study. The FEED will evaluate the feasibility of adding CO2 capture equipment at the Antelope Valley Station near Beulah, N.D. A resolution was unanimously passed this week by the directors of Basin Electric during their regular monthly board meeting.

CEO and General Manager Ron Harper emphasizes the board’s action does not authorize the ultimate project – it simply directs Basin Electric to conduct the FEED study.

The cost of the FEED study is estimated at $6.24 million, of which $2.7 million is being funded by the North Dakota Industrial Commission.

The FEED study will focus on the costs and engineering of retrofitting Antelope Valley to add the CO2 capture equipment and technology to one of the plant’s two, 450-megawatt units.

In January 2009, the Rural Utilities Service, committed to financing about $300 million toward development of adding CO2 capture technology to AVS.

In July 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy announced its intention to enter into a cooperative agreement with Basin Electric for a potential of a $100 million grant to develop a CO2 capture technology.

The first time, on April 25th, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar toured the Great Plains Synfuels Plant. See that blog post here: Member of Pres. Obama’s Cabinet visits Great Plains Synfuels Plant

The second time was yesterday, at the Great Plains Energy Expo and Showcase, hosted by U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan. Salazar’s visit to the Synfuels Plant came up a number of times during his speech at the Expo.

In the video below, you’ll hear Salazar say coal is an important part of the United States’ energy future. Salazar says the United States needs to invest in the type of technologies he saw at the Synfuels Plant.

Salazar: “And oftentimes when we’d speak about it, we would speak about coal as coal being to the United States as oil is to Saudi Arabia. That’s because we know we have huge abundant resources in this country.”

Salazar: “Demonstrating functioning carbon capture and sequestration project, that’s the Dakota Gasification facility. And I went there because I know that coal is important to our country’s future. And I know that North Dakota and its technology can lead the way in terms of how we can capture carbon and how we can develop the coal resources of these United States.”

Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Ron Harper asked Salazar during the question-and-answer segment about a permitting process for sequestering carbon dioxide in federally-owned lands.

Salazar: “My hope is that the public lands are a place where we actually move forward with demonstration projects for carbon capture and sequestration.”

America’s Power Behind the Plug says our “mini-documentary … is particularly watch-worthy” and “does an excellent job of showing the science behind the technology – the project’s engineers and employees from the plant explain the process of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in a way that’s easy to understand.”

See the entire blog post here: “The CO2 Story” breaks down the CCS process

Note: Basin Electric Power Cooperative is a member of American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

Antelope Valley Station and the Synfuels Plant

KXMB CBS 12, the CBS station in Bismarck, ND, produced a feature story on the 25th anniversaries of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant and Antelope Valley Station.

Watch the story by clicking this link: Basin celebrates 25 years

Spokesman Daryl Hill (pointing) guides a tour of AVS.

The Synfuels Plant is the only commercial-scale coal gasification plant in the United States that manufactures natural gas. It is also home to the largest coal-based carbon dioxide capture and storage project in the world!

Antelope Valley Station is working to make technological advancements as part of a demonstration project for carbon dioxide capture and sequestration.

AVS 25th anniversary cake

Celebration for the Synfuels Plant’s 25th anniversary will be held in conjunction with its family night on August 11.

Catch this story on the local news
KXMB-TV, Bismarck, will air a story soon (possibly tonight!) during either of its evening newscasts about the 25th anniversary of operation at Antelope Valley and the Synfuels Plant.

For historical information and photos, check out the Basin Today article “Celebrating 25 years.”

Learn more about the Great Plains Synfuels Plant by viewing “The CO2 Story”

Take a virtual tour of Antelope Valley Station by viewing this video: Take a tour of AVS

Julie Slag, staff writer/editor at Basin Electric, coordinated the project. The goal was to make the new site more user-friendly and enhance the overall site experience, especially for news media, tourists, customers, and anyone looking for safety information. “Gary Loop and his staff gave us some specific items they wanted, and we moved forward with creating more content and a graphic unity for the site,” Slag said.

Some new features on the site include:
new photo galleries
a history section
diagrams and explanations about gasification and coproduct processes
marketing and customer service information
carbon dioxide sequestration
clean energy
new visitor center information
driving directions
maps
weather
video feature stories including a video about carbon dioxide
and new social media ‘tools’ such as downloadable widgets and news releases, briefs and other information set up as RSS feeds.

The new site offers more promotional information, including the capability of publishing ‘breaking news’ headlines on the home page. “With help from our media staff, we also adopted some internal best practices relative to page layout and photo size and placement. It’s really made a difference in how the site looks and our work processes,” Slag said. “Information Services & Telecommunications (IS&T) staff introduced the new photo gallery software, and it’s a big improvement from the old style.”

You can also watch this story on Basin Electric’s video gallery: Grandpa Myron is going bald on St. Baldrick’s

Aiden Perkins has Langerhans cell histiocytosis at two months old.

We just met a two month old who’s starting chemotherapy and will need treatments until he’s 14-months old.

Little Aiden Perkins is a darling. He’s a curious baby who hardly ever cries… at least when there are cameras in the room.

Just one week ago, his family learned he has Langerhans cell histiocytosis. It’s not cancer, but it’s treated like it. He went to Fairview Hospital in St. Paul, MN, the day after the diagnosis. He endured two surgeries in two days. And he had his first chemo treatment a week ago.

His grandpa, Myron Jorgenson, works at Dakota Gasification Company. He’s been growing out his hair since October so he could shave it for our St. Baldrick’s event.

He’s been planning to raise money for childhood cancer research since before Aiden was even born.

Click here to go to Myron Jorgenson’s St. Baldrick’s page.

Myron Jorgenson, Dakota Gasification Company

On The Today Show’s Web site, NBC News’ Matt Lauer is asking for suggestions on where he should travel this summer. Click here to find it: Where should Matt go?

We think he should visit Dakota Gasification Company!

We'd like Matt to visit DGC!

Plus:
-DGC is home to one of the largest carbon capture projects in the world.
-We’re working on a way to capture CO2 from AVS, too. AVS is Antelope Valley Station, a coal-based power plant right next to DGC. Capturing CO2 from an operating coal-based power plant has never been done before!
-We just paid back more than $50 million to the government. And since DGC started making payments, we’ve paid back more than $375 million.

It also pays millions back to the U.S. government.

DGC made a $57.2 million payment to U.S. Dept. of Energy as part of a revenue sharing agreement signed more than 20 years ago. This was the eighth payment made to the DOE by DGC.

DGC’s parent company, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, opted to not take advantage of production tax credits. The tax credits expired in 2002 with a value of about $753 million.

The payments coupled with the unused tax credits mean the government has reclaimed more than $1 billion of its losses.

The arrangement was made to help DOE recover funds lent to the original plant developers who defaulted on guaranteed loans in 1985.

Dakota Gasification Company is one of the largest CO2 capture and sequestration projects in the world.

Here is our press release:

Bismarck, N.D. – Dakota Gasification Company (DGC) made a $57.2-million payment to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of a revenue sharing agreement signed more than 20 years ago. The payment was made February 3 based on 2008 revenues.

The payment is the eighth one made under the terms of a revenue-sharing agreement signed when DGC bought the Great Plains Synfuels Plant – a coal gasification plant near Beulah, N.D. This brings the total amount paid to DOE as part of the revenue-sharing agreement to $379.8 million since the sale of the plant to DGC’s parent company – Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

In the early 1980s, DOE guaranteed a $1.5 billion-loan to the original developers of the Synfuels Plant. The developers defaulted on that loan in 1985, and the DOE repaid the lenders and took control of the plant. In fact, DOE operated the plant from 1985-88, during which time the decision was made to offer the plant for sale through a bidding process.

The parent company of DGC, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, was selected by DOE in 1988 as the successful bidder for the facility. DGC was formed by Basin Electric to own and operate the gasification plant.

When Basin Electric purchased the plant, it committed not only to share revenue with DOE, but also to not take advantage of production tax credits for producing synthetic fuels that were available at the time. The tax credits expired in 2002 with a value of about $753 million. “By not using the credits to reduce income taxes, the government could offset the losses from the loan guarantee,” Harper said.

Coupled with the unused tax credits, the government has now recovered more than $1 billion of its losses.

As part of the sale agreement, DGC agreed to share revenue from gas sales with the DOE through 2009. The amount of revenue shared is based on a formula that takes into account natural gas prices and other economic indicators.

During the 1980s and 1990s, gas prices were quite low. As a result, minimal payments were made to DOE based on the revenue-sharing formula. However, beginning in 2001 natural gas prices started trending upward — reaching more than $10/dekatherm at times – contributing to multi-million dollar revenue-sharing payments being made on an annual basis.

Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Ron Harper said the Great Plains Synfuels Plant has proven that coal can be the cornerstone of energy development now and in the future.

In 2000, the gasification plant began capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) and piping it to an oilfield in Canada for enhanced oil recovery. In 2006, a second oilfield was added, increasing CO2 production capacity up to about 160 million cubic feet per day. “This is one of the largest CO2 capture and sequestration projects in the world,” Harper said. DGC is also a member of the Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership – one of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships established by DOE.

Besides the revenue sharing, Harper said close to $400 million has been invested in the plant since 1988 to achieve environmental compliance, improve efficiency, and invest in new byproduct development. “We’ve been able to increase production at the plant by more than 25 percent of original design,” he said. “The efficiency improvements benefit DOE and DGC because the revenue sharing formula is based in part on the amount of natural gas produced by the plant.”

Because of the investments made by DGC for environmental improvement, byproduct development and increased production, Harper said the plant operation has turned challenges into opportunities. “Our people are committed to keeping this plant a symbol of stability in a volatile time. This is a world-class facility,” he said.

Headquartered in Bismarck, DGC owns and operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, N.D. The plant produces natural gas and other byproducts from a coal gasification process. DGC is a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck.