Rural Electric Companies Hit Hard by Keystone XL Cancellation

Miles of unused pipe, prepared for the Keystone XL pipeline, sit in a lot outside Gascoyne, N.D., on Oct. 14, 2014. Andrew Burton/Getty Images

This is part one of a series exploring the effects of President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

MURDO, S.D.—For more than a decade, Jeff Birkeland had been waiting expectantly in the hope that the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline would finally materialize and bring with it a much-needed boost to his rural community. His dreams were dashed overnight.