U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan announced funding that he secured for Bismarck State College in the amount of $6.3 million during a news conference Dec. 20 on the fourth floor of the National Energy Center of Excellence (NECE) on the BSC campus. The NECE, still under construction, will be completed by June 2008.

Sen. Dorgan also announced other funding that he secured for North Dakota projects in his role as Chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.

Sen. Dorgan, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, played a key role in writing the Omnibus Appropriations bill passed by Congress on Dec. 19, and now awaiting the president's signature.

Sen. Dorgan said his work to have BSC designated as the National Power Plant Operations Technology and Education Center was just one step in the process of BSC becoming a national center and that the funding in this year's bill provides for continuation of that process.

BSC President Larry C. Skogen thanked Sen. Dorgan for his tireless efforts to support BSC's plans to provide education and training for the nation's energy industry.

"You've shown incredible interest, desire and tenacity to help Bismarck State College with our goal of becoming the national resource center for the energy industry," Dr. Skogen said.

He said this is the largest single commitment that BSC has received for this endeavor.

Funding for BSC is as follows:

$5.12 million to enhance BSC's ability to build and equip state-of-the-art laboratories in the NECE, build the college's capacity to be the nation's leader in internet-based technology for online energy programs, and provide skilled workers for North Dakota's energy industry,

$958,000 to develop the Instrumentation and Control program, a skill set also needed for the state's power plants, and

$250,000 to establish at BSC a Great Plains Energy Corridor Office, which would be a repository of information on all facets of the region's energy infrastructure and would enhance long-term energy interests.

Basin Electric CEO Ron Harper also spoke at the news conference. He said that the education and training students receive at BSC is "fundamentally and critically important to Basin's success." Basin Electric was the lead donor to the capital campaign for the NECE, with a $2 million pledge.