South Dakota Suggests Delaying Summit Carbon Pipeline Hearings to September or Later

December 30, 2022

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by Jeff Beach (AgWeek) Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions wants to start construction in 2023 to benefit the ethanol industry, but some farmers have concerns about damage to farmland and property values. -- South Dakota regulators say they may need to push back hearings on what could be the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project until September 2023 and maybe even 2024.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 20, directed its staff to look at available dates in September for what would be at least 10 days of hearings on the controversial Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline.

PUC staff had suggested late April and May for the hearings, which was supported by Summit.

But because of it being in the heart of spring planting season for farmers, a conflict for an attorney representing many landowners, and the complexities of the project, commissioners told staff to come back to the Jan. 5, 2023, meeting with a new proposal.

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Attorney Brian Jorde of Nebraska-based Domina Law represents many of the farmers and landowners that are resisting providing an easement to Summit for the pipeline. He cited another case that is scheduled for trial in early May as a conflict with the spring time frame.

Nelson said the PUC has always tried to schedule around such conflicts of attorneys involved in PUC dockets.

Summit attorney Brett Koenecke argued there will likely be a settlement in Jorde's other case before it gets to trial, as happens with most cases.

“The notion that we would reschedule for months for his schedule when he's obviously taken on too much work to handle … is very difficult for me to swallow here this morning,” Koenecke said.

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Jorde also cited about 70 different lawsuits in South Dakota involving landowners and Summit Carbons Solutions that will be in the courts in 2023 and that Summit has only about half of the voluntary easements that it needs in South Dakota as other reasons to delay.

The Iowa Utilities Board also has yet to schedule a hearing on Summit’s permit application. At a recent meeting Summit suggested 15 days of hearings could start on March 20, 2023, but others, including Jorde and the Iowa Farm Bureau, said at a Dec. 13 meeting that such a time frame would be unworkable.

Summit also still needs permits in North Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.

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Summit Carbon Solutions has sued two more South Dakota counties that it contends has overstepped their authority to regulate carbon capture pipelines.

Summit has filed suits against the board of commissioners in McPherson County and in Spink County.

Spink County in July passed a moratorium on issuing local permits for hazardous waste pipelines. McPherson passed its moratorium back in January, citing concerns from residents about the safety of the project in a letter to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, which must approve a permit at the state level.

Summit's lawsuits, filed Dec. 12, say courts have "repeatedly held that federal law preempts state and local governments’ efforts to impose their own standards on federally regulated pipelines."

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Summit had previously sued Brown and Edmunds counties in South Dakota . It also has sued two counties in Iowa over restrictive ordinances. READ MORE

Ringneck Energy, other South Dakota ethanol officials urging PUC to move forward with Summit Carbon Solutions’ regulatory proceedings (DRG News)

Dakota Ethanol looks to continue carbon intensity reduction through Summit Carbon Solutions partnership (Madison Daily Leader)

Pipeline spanning five states moves forward, will capture carbon from ethanol production -- Pipeline would transport carbon from more than 30 ethanol plants to to underground injection control facilities in North Dakota. (Just the News)

A look at ethanol and South Dakota (Capital Journal)

Excerpt from DRG News: “For years, the ethanol industry has served as the critical customer for corn growers in the state of South Dakota and across the Midwest, helping drive growth in commodity prices and land values in the process,” said Walt Wendland, President and CEO of Ringneck Energy in Onida, South Dakota. “Carbon capture projects like Summit Carbon Solutions are absolutely vital to ensuring ethanol producers remain competitive in the years and decades to come. Simply put, the future of the ethanol industry is uncertain at best without these critical investments in our infrastructure and delays in the regulatory process could come at a significant cost.”

The ethanol industry in South Dakota supports more than 5,000 jobs, contributes nearly $600 million annually to the state’s gross domestic product, and purchases more than half of all the corn grown in the state. Summit Carbon Solutions will allow its 32 ethanol plant partners to sell their product at a premium in the states and countries that have adopted policies incentivizing the use of low carbon fuels.

“We strongly encourage the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to resist unwarranted efforts to delay the regulatory process in the state,” said Ron Alverson, Board Member at Dakota Ethanol in Wentworth, South Dakota. “With 2,300 landowners across the Midwest signing 3,800 easement agreements accounting for 56% of the proposed route, it’s clear that farmers are embracing the Summit Carbon Solutions project because they believe it’s critical for their bottom line. Those landowners deserve to have a formal hearing in April, which would meet South Dakota’s required statutory permit decision deadline of June 15.”

Other ethanol officials encouraging the South Dakota PUC to hold the Summit Carbon Solutions permitting hearing in April include:

Ron Alverson, Board Member and a Founder of Dakota Ethanol in Wentworth, South Dakota
Walt Wendland, President and CEO of Ringneck Energy in Onida, South Dakota
Eric Baukol, CEO of Redfield Energy in Redfield, South Dakota
Scott Mundt, CEO of Dakota Ethanol in Wentworth, South Dakota
Jim Seurer, CEO of Glacial Lakes Energy in Watertown, Aberdeen, Mina, and Huron, (all operating in South Dakota) READ MORE