Letter to the editor: Pipeline optimization secures Illinois’ energy future
Peoria Journal Star, Pekin Daily Times, and the Southern Illinoisan recently published a letter to the editor by GAIN spokesman Craig Stevens regarding this week’s ICC hearing and the important benefits of optimizing the Dakota Access Pipeline. Read the full letter below:
On March 5 and 6, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) will hold a hearing to consider a proposal to construct a pump station along the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that would support the increase of the line’s capacity to 1.1 million barrels per day without the need for mainline construction.
DAPL has been safely operating since June 2017 — transporting crude oil from the Bakken to the Patoka Energy Terminal in Patoka, Illinois. With record production coming out of North Dakota’s oilfields, DAPL Optimization would support Bakken production and bolster Patoka’s role as a critical energy hub for the United States. Investing in American energy infrastructure and development strengthens American energy and national security.
Patoka, as the offtake for DAPL, serves to store and distribute crude oil for refining, ultimately helping to turn the oil into commercial products American rely on every day.
The project — which has the support of nearly two-thirds of Illinoisans — will ensure safe, reliable transport for American energy, create new economic opportunities for the state, and produce millions in tax revenues for schools, emergency services, infrastructure projects, and other social services.
North Dakota and South Dakota swiftly approved their provisions of DAPL Optimization. The ICC should approve the project to continue to support the more than 100,000 high-skilled jobs the energy industry employs in Illinois each year.
Craig Stevens, spokesman for Grow America’s Infrastructure Now
