On June 25, Beth Soholt participated in the Renewable Energy Action Summit at Bismarck State College in North Dakota.  She along with several other notable speakers including: Governor Jack Dalrymple, Senator John Hoeven, Senator Kent Conrad, Phillis Cuttino from the Pew Environment Group, and Dana Christensen from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory spoke about North Dakota's diverse energy sector, which includes oil, ethanol, and renewable energy resources, including wind, as an important part of their success. In the last 10 years, the state has grown to rank ninth in the country for wind generation, growing from less than half a megawatt to more than 1,400 megawatts today.  Mr. Christensen said that North Dakota's "integrated energy policy is ... a great blueprint on how we may do that on the national scale."

Beth Soholt spoke about the great need for transmission to support wind development. In an interview with KFYR-TV she emphasized that the constant boom and bust cycles resulting from the renewal of the Production Tax Credit is a challenge because the industry needs certainty in order to develop their projects efficiently and cost effectively. 

Justin Pickar from Geronimo was also interviewed for this story. 

See the KFYR-TV story here.