District 4 Sen. Rob Kupec championed legislation to help Minnesota become a national leader in the growing SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) industry. The bill he co-authored, SF 1312, expands the existing SAF credit enacted in 2023.

The DG Fuels SAF (sustainable aviation fuels) plant expected to be built near Moorhead will supply low-carbon fuel to Delta Air Lines flights departing from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

The biggest industrial dream ever imagined for Moorhead is moving forward. Slowly, and not without a few hiccups.
Four months ago, DG Fuels of Washington, D.C., announced its choice of Moorhead as the site of its second plant to produce SAF – sustainable aviation fuel. The $5 billion development would be the largest in the region’s history, dwarfing even the $3.1 billion Fargo Diversion Project. Two other projects are also in the lengthy development pipeline, the first in St. James Parish in Louisiana, and a third in Phelps County, Nebraska.
Expected to be operational by 2030, the Moorhead operation will employ as many as 650 workers. Its natural feed stock will provide a new market for area farmers, extending its benefits far afield. The company estimates the plant will generate a $50 billion economic impact across the state over the next several decades through job creation, increased agricultural income, and local economic activity tied to its operations.
“We’ve never seen anything like it,” says Moorhead economic development consultant Derrick LaPoint. “The Casselton soybean plant was $400 million. The FM Area Diversion is the largest project ever undertaken in our area. This will be almost double. A lot of people in this industry never come close to seeing a project like this.”
DG Fuels employs its own patented process to convert biomass – what’s left in cornfields after harvest, for example, and timber waste – into low-carbon aviation fuel. It can use corn, soybeans, cover crops, forestry residue and municipal solid waste. Aircraft can substitute their liquid product for kerosene-based jet fuel without modification, helping the industry reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
LaPoint says the company has signed a letter of intent to enter negotiations to purchase a 500-acre tract of land in the MCCARA Industrial Park. The shovel-ready site is directly west of Moorhead Municipal Airport. It lies across Interstate 94 from the 261 acres purchased last year by the White Earth Band of Ojibwe late last year, presumably for a casino-hotel. (The tribal nation has not confirmed its plan.)
Minnesota has become a world leader in supporting development of the fledgling SAF industry. He says, “We have what they need. We have the land ready to go here in Moorhead. We have agriculture and forestry to supply the raw materials for making these sustainable fuels. We have a guaranteed market, Delta Air Lines, with its hub at MSP International Airport, committed to buying everything we can produce. And we have a state government that is overwhelmingly supportive.”
The Minnesota Sustainable Aviation Fuels Hub has brought together state agencies – Agriculture, Transportation, Economic Development, Pollution Control – with major corporate supporters like Xcel Energy and EcoLab and the University of Minnesota. Established in 2023, it is the nation’s first large-scale coalition committed to scaling production of sustainable aviation fuel to replace conventional jet fuel.
Also in 2023, State Sen. Rob Kupec was among sponsors of a bill that has allotted a tax credit of $1.50 for every gallon of SAF that’s produced or blended here and sold to companies flying out of a Minnesota airport. He co-authored the measure now under consideration by the Legislature that would extend that credit through 2035. At a hearing last week, he told the Senate Taxes Committee, “This is an opportunity for Minnesota to once again lead the way. The broad bipartisan support behind SAF makes it one of our top priorities this year.” The bill has passed out of committee for consideration by the full Senate.
Federal support is the big remaining question. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act included tax credits, encouraging investment in the industry. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Stand has also incentivized use of the low-carbon fuel.
President Donald Trump’s inauguration, however, has raised questions. On the night he took office, he signed executive orders including one titled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” halting the funding source pending a 60-day review. At this point, it remains in limbo.
“If they don’t get federal funding, the project will face challenges moving forward,” LaPoint admits.
In the meantime, though, he says, “We stand ready. We’re trying to sort out from DG how they’re feeling it’s going in Washington. The state of Minnesota is very, very excited. As for the federal side … I can’t even guess. It’s an evolving situation.