Consumer advocate seeks to end former staffer’s work with pipeline opponents

The Office of Consumer Advocate is attempting to bar a former state attorney from representing other people in Summit Carbon Solutions’ permit process, claiming it is unethical.

That office has for weeks argued that one of its former attorneys, Anna Ryon, should not be allowed to continue acting as an attorney for landowners and elected officials in the proceedings.

Ryon said she left the office in May after new legislation and a new state attorney general rendered the office “more of an observer and less of an advocate.”

The consumer advocate cites state rules that prohibit such work unless state justice officials give written permission. Those rules are meant to prevent former state attorneys from using information they gleaned during their work with a state office to benefit others who have a stake in the same matter, especially if it will be used against the state office.

Ryon said she is not privy to any consequential, confidential information from her time as a consumer advocate attorney that could be used by her new clients, and she argues that there is no conflict between them and the office, which, as its name indicates, advocates for the public in utility cases such as Summit’s.

“There really shouldn’t be a conflict of interest,” Ryon told Iowa Capital Dispatch. “The OCA, because it represents the public generally, does not represent any individual.”

Summit seeks to build a pipeline in five states to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground sequestration. Its more than 680 miles of proposed pipe in Iowa would be mostly in the western and northern parts of the state.

The company’s final evidentiary hearing with the Iowa Utilities Board started last week and is expected to continue for weeks or months. It resumes on Tuesday in Fort Dodge.

State reorganization

Ryon had actively participated in Summit’s permit process with the IUB while she worked as a consumer advocate. She was a longtime attorney with the Office of Consumer Advocate until May, when she quit.

Her departure coincided with an upheaval in state government after lawmakers approved a massive reorganization of state agencies. As part of that change, the attorney general gained more authority over the OCA and can now replace its attorneys without a justifiable reason.

This year, Attorney General Brenna Bird started her first term after defeating her longtime predecessor Tom Miller in the November election. Miller is a Democrat, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, advocated last year for the election of Bird, also a Republican.

“I want my own (attorney general), please,” Reynolds said in May 2022.

The subsequent governmental reorganization affected the OCA because it “subjects the office to political persuasions and whims,” Ryon said. “It’s incredibly important when a small agency like the OCA goes up against large corporations that have money and influence in the state government, the OCA really needs to be able to be independent.”

Reynolds also appointed a new chairperson this year of the utilities board, after which the board decided to start Summit’s hearing two months earlier than it had indicated under its previous leadership.

Ryon first sought to represent former Congressman Steve King for Summit’s permit process. King has become a vocal opponent of using eminent domain to obtain land easements to build the pipeline system. About a quarter of Summit’s route in Iowa is subject to eminent domain requests with the IUB.

However, the IUB denied King’s request to participate as an “intervenor” because he is not directly affected by the process. Intervenors have broader opportunities to participate than the general public — such as presenting witnesses and cross-examining during the hearing.

Ryon’s primary client now is Kerry Hirth, the daughter of an affected landowner who is participating as an intervenor. Hirth had attempted to testify in her father’s stead last week but was denied because of that status — intervenors are set to testify toward the end of the hearing.

Hirth had earlier sought to delay the start of the hearing over concerns that landowners were confused about how to they could participate and that several might have withdrawn their intervention requests.

Ryon has also represented a group of Republican state lawmakers intermittently, along with two landowners last week on a temporary basis during their testimonies. She is not charging for the work because her previous employment with the OCA prohibits it under state rules.

No decision yet

The IUB has not made an official ruling on whether Ryon can participate.

OCA repeated its objection to her presence at the hearing last week, but the board allowed her to remain and didn’t explain why.

That led Consumer Advocate Lanny Zieman on Friday to renew a motion to prohibit Ryon from making motions or other filings in Summit’s IUB docket and to disqualify her from participating at the hearing.

“Anna Ryon represented the Office of Consumer Advocate in this very case, participating in strategy meetings with OCA personnel and working directly with OCA’s expert witness,” Zieman said. “Ms. Ryon voluntarily terminated her employment at OCA and began representing other parties in this case, violating her professional duties related to conflicts of interest.”

Zieman has declined to give written permission to Ryon to represent clients in the Summit case.

Ryon said she faces a pending investigation by the state Attorney Disciplinary Board, which has the power to punish her for misconduct. She does not know who might have filed a complaint against her, but that she received notice of the investigation about two weeks ago.

“I think I have a good reason for not complying with the rule, and I think that any dispute about it belongs in front of the disciplinary board,” she said.

The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request to comment for this article.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.