In reversal, North Dakota OKs Summit pipeline

Regulators approved a route permit Friday for the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline in North Dakota, a significant win for what the company says would be the world’s largest carbon dioxide capture project.

The three-person North Dakota Public Service Commission voted unanimously to approve the permit. The commission denied Summit a route permit in 2023, but changes the company made to its route helped persuade the commission to reverse its position.

Summit, based in Ames, plans to put 333 miles of pipeline through North Dakota, part of a 2,500-mile network of pipelines in five states that includes Iowa. The pipelines are planned to connect 57 ethanol plants so the greenhouse gas could be stored underground at a site west of Bismarck, N.D.

“We commend and respect the North Dakota Public Service Commission for their diligence and thoughtful approach in reviewing this project,” Wade Boeshans, executive vice president of Summit Carbon Solutions, said in a statement. “This decision is a testament to North Dakota’s commitment to fostering innovation while working closely with communities and industries.”

Ethanol plants emit carbon dioxide as part of the fermentation process in turning corn into fuel. That CO2 can be captured, compressed and put into a hazardous liquid pipeline.

Summit announced its plans in 2021 and hoped to begin construction in 2023, but has faced pushback from some landowners and legal challenges as it has tried to obtain permits.

Supporters view the project as vital to helping the ethanol industry compete in low-carbon fuel markets. Ethanol is a key market for corn growers. Opponents cite safety concerns, damage to farmland and property values and an infringement on property rights.

Summit still has several challenges to complete its planned route. It needs a permit in South Dakota, where it already has been denied once. And it will need a separate storage permit from the North Dakota Industrial Commission.

Summit chose western North Dakota as a permanent storage site because the area has geology to keep the CO2 deep underground with a cap rock preventing it from reaching the surface.

Summit would benefit from federal tax credits of $85 for every ton of CO2 stored. It would sequester 18 million tons of CO2 a year.

Iowa regulators have granted Summit a permit — but construction can’t begin in the state until it receives permission from other states.

The company says it plans to try again for a permit in South Dakota. Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission is expected to vote Dec. 12 on a 28-mile segment. The project also includes Nebraska, which has no state agency in charge of issuing permits for CO2 pipelines.

North Dakota commission Chair Randy Christmann emphasized that — unlike in Iowa — the approval in that state does not guarantee that Summit has the right to use eminent domain to force landowners to provide easements for the pipeline in exchange for compensation. A decision on eminent domain would have to be made in the courts.

“I certainly do encourage the company not to use eminent domain, at least not more than absolutely necessary,” Christmann said.

Summit says it is working on obtaining voluntary property easements. A Summit filing said as of Oct. 9, it had obtained voluntary easements on about 81.4 percent of the miles it needs in North Dakota.

This article first appeared in the North Dakota Monitor.