Pipeline opponents speak out at Iowa regulatory panel’s first meeting in 2 years

DES MOINES — For the first time in two years, the three-person state panel that regulates Iowa’s public utilities held a general, public meeting — and Iowa landowners who are opposed to a hazardous liquid pipeline and have been critical of the panel’s approval of the project did not miss the opportunity.

Nineteen landowners spoke during the public comment period of Wednesday’s meeting of the Iowa Utilities Commission and even more attended the meeting.

The panel’s last public, monthly meeting was August of 2023, almost exactly two years ago, according to the commission’s calendar.

“This is a moment that literally is years in the making,” Sioux County farmer Megan Sloma told the panel when she spoke during Wednesday’s meeting.

The Iowa Utilities Commission regularly conducts public meetings, but in the past two years those meetings have been primarily about specific projects before the commission. The monthly public meetings, like Wednesday’s, provide Iowans an opportunity to comment on any matter before the commission.

The landowners who spoke during Wednesday’s meeting expressed similar concerns about a proposed carbon capture pipeline that would travel through five states, including Iowa: they want the Iowa Utilities Commission to reject the second phase of the project proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions, arguing that portion does not have a sufficient number of voluntary landowner participation and that the project has run into regulatory road blocks in other states.

Many of the landowners also implored the commission to act swiftly, saying the permitting process should not be drawn out indefinitely to give Summit more time and leave farmers in limbo.

“I want to remind you that government’s first responsibility is to protect rights, not violate them,” Colleen Tucker, a landowner near Osage, said during the meeting. “We ask the Iowa Utilities Commission to revoke the Summit permit and stand with the citizens you represent, not a private corporation.”

Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed a 2,500-mile CO2 pipeline through five states, including Iowa, to capture the greenhouse gas from ethanol plants and bury it in North Dakota.

The Iowa Utilities Commission approved a permit for the Iowa section, including granting Summit eminent domain powers. The permit was conditional, requiring Summit to also be permitted by North and South Dakota. North Dakota has, but Summit has faced challenges in South Dakota, which recently passed a law banning the use of eminent domain for the project. And South Dakota regulators have twice rejected permits, though Summit says it will try again with a new route.

Jan Norris, from Montgomery County, said during Wednesday’s meeting that landowners are at a disadvantage in the process.

“We are in limbo. We can’t plan our farms, make family decisions, buy or sell property, legal fees are due every month. Our lives are on hold,” Montgomery said. “Please dismiss (the second phase of the proposed pipeline) and call the project what it is: non-viable. There is no path in or out of South Dakota. Make Summit start over when they have a path.”

An Iowa Utilities Commission spokeswoman said the panel does not comment on contested matters pending before the commission.

IUC resumes monthly public meetings

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The Iowa Utilities Commission will resume holding monthly public meetings, new chairwoman Sarah Martz said at the outset of Wednesday’s meeting.

Martz said the resumption of regular monthly public meetings is part of the commission’s desire to be more transparent and hear from stakeholders.

Martz, who has served on the commission since 2023, was appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds as the new IUC chairwoman in May.

The previous chair, Erik Helland — who remains an active commissioner — was not voted for reappointment by the Iowa Senate during the 2025 session of the Iowa Legislature. IUC members are among those that require two-thirds approval of the Iowa Senate.

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The Senate this year did vote overwhelmingly to confirm the commission’s third member, former state legislator Josh Byrnes, to another term.

Several Republican state lawmakers have criticized the IUC’s review of the first phase of the Summit’s pipeline permit request.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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