Summit Carbon Solutions Granted Approval by IUB for CO2 Pipeline

June 26, 2024

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(Summit Carbon Solutions) Approval paves the way for new opportunities and support for Iowa’s farmers and ethanol producers. -- Today, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) announced the approval of Summit Carbon Solutions base pipeline project (HLP-2021-0001). This approval represents a significant milestone not for just Summit Carbon Solutions, but for the entire agriculture industry as it seeks access to new and emerging markets, like sustainable aviation fuel, by lowering ethanol’s carbon intensity score (CI).

This comes on the heels of successful reapplication hearings for its Summit’s North Dakota pipeline permit in front of the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC).

“The momentum will continue as we prepare to file our South Dakota permit application in early July,” said Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions. “We look forward to engaging with the state throughout this process and are confident in a successful outcome.”

Summit Carbon Solutions is partnering with 57 ethanol plants across five states and has signed voluntary easement agreements with 75% of Iowa landowners along this route. The company will continue to work with landowners every day.

Summit Carbon Solutions appreciates the Iowa Utilities Board’s fair and transparent handling of the pipeline permit proceedings.

About Summit Carbon Solutions

Summit Carbon Solutions is driving the future of agriculture by expanding economic opportunities for ethanol producers, strengthening the marketplace for Midwest-based farmers, and creating jobs. In developing the largest carbon capture and storage project in the world, the company seeks to connect industrial facilities via strategic infrastructure to store carbon dioxide safely and permanently in the Midwest United States. For more information, visit: www.SummitCarbonSolutions.com. READ MORE

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Midwestern carbon dioxide pipeline project gets approval in Iowa, but still has a long way to go (Associated Press)
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Summit proposes August and September meetings for pipeline extensions (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Iowa regulators didn’t look out for the public in pipeline approval (Des Moines Register)
Broad array of groups object to Summit pipeline permit (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Summit says Republican lawmakers lobbed ‘improper attack’ (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Summit Pipeline Seen Delayed Until as Late as 2027: Executive (Bloomberg Law)
Miller-Meeks says pipelines will help Iowa ethanol industry stay competitive (Network Today)
Summit CEO says company pushing ahead to win over landowners (Agri-Pulse)
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Iowa Utilities Commission issues pipeline permit for Summit Carbon Solutions (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Excerpt from Associated Press: The Iowa Utilities Board approved Summit’s January 2022 application for a permit to build and operate the pipeline. But before the board issues the permit, the company must file proof of an insurance policy of at least $100 million to pay for any damages resulting from the pipeline project. Summit must provide proof of the insurance annually.

The company also can’t start construction until it has approvals from North Dakota and South Dakota, including for routes in both states and underground storage in North Dakota. Summit also needs approvals from Minnesota and in Nebraska before it can begin to build lines out to ethanol plants in those states.

The Iowa regulators’ decision comes after hearings last year and setbacks in other states. North Dakota regulators denied a siting permit in August, but later agreed to reconsider. Hearings on the underground storage proposal were held earlier this month.

South Dakota regulators denied Summit’s application in September; Summit said it plans to file again in early July. In Nebraska, where Summit must work with individual counties, at least one county has denied a permit.

The Iowa panel also granted the company the right of eminent domain over numerous parcels of land, but only after the permit is issued. The extent of Summit’s eminent domain powers wasn’t immediately clear from the 500-page order. The board denied use of some parcels of land; others require modifications to the route. Eminent domain is the taking of private land for public use with compensation for landowners.

The order also includes numerous other requirements of Summit, such as monthly construction reports and grants for equipment for cities and counties to respond to incidents.

Supporters view carbon capture projects such as Summit’s as a combatant of climate change, with new federal tax incentives and billions from Congress for such carbon capture efforts. Opponents question the technology’s effectiveness at scale and the need for potentially huge investments over cheaper renewable energy sources.

Companies behind two other CO2 pipeline projects proposed in the Midwest have canceled or shelved their plans. From the renewable fuels industry perspective, blows to projects such as Summit’s could put at risk the huge potential of a new aviation fuel market the industry believes would continue for many years.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum supports the pipeline. He has hailed North Dakota’s underground rock formations as a “geologic jackpot” for CO2 storage potential. In 2021, he set a goal for North Dakota to become carbon neutral by 2030. He isn’t seeking reelection this year, and is a top choice to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate. READ MORE

Excerpt from Iowa Capial Dispatch: Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed new public informational meeting dates for 23 counties that would span about four weeks, according to documents recently filed with the Iowa Utilities Commission, formerly known as the Iowa Utilities Board. The first meeting would be Aug. 26 in Adams County.

The company must hold the meetings in affected counties before it can negotiate with landowners for easements and file petitions for permits to build the extensions.

The 14 proposed offshoots to additional ethanol plants from Summit’s initial proposal would increase the size of the system in Iowa by about 341 miles — or about 50%. The IUC indicated last week it would grant Summit a permit for the company’s initial proposal, which has about 690 miles of pipe.

The company hopes to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol producers in five states to North Dakota to be stored underground. The IUC has stipulated that Summit cannot start laying pipe in Iowa until it obtains permits in the Dakotas. It said the company can use eminent domain to force agreements with unwilling landowners to use their properties for the project.

North Dakota regulators are considering Summit’s pipeline route in that state and whether it would be allowed to pump the greenhouse gas into the ground. Summit has said it will reapply for a pipeline permit in South Dakota this month. The company hopes to start construction next year.

The IUC denied requests from pipeline opponents to consider the extensions along with the initial proposal. Those extensions and maps of their routes were unveiled in March while the initial permit process was still pending. Some argued, unsuccessfully, that parts of the system route should be revamped to shorten its overall length.

Instead, each of the extensions from the initial route will be subject to individual permits. Summit had hoped to hold informational meetings for them in April and May, but the commission rejected those dates without providing a reason.

Summit submitted new maps of the extension routes last week that increased their total length by about a half mile. A notable change was in Hardin County, where a proposed route moved slightly closer to Iowa Falls.

The new proposed meeting schedule — which has not yet been approved by the IUC — goes from Aug. 26 to Sept. 20 in the following counties: Adams, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Clay, Fayette, Floyd, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Ida, Kossuth, Mitchell, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Sioux, Webster and Worth.

The expected routes do not go through Buchanan, but an ethanol plant near Fairbank lies on its border with Fayette County. READ MORE

Excerpt from Iowa Capital Dispatch: The groups that have filed reconsideration requests with the three-member Iowa Utilities Commission predict that the challenges will fail and that the issue will be decided in court. There were eight reconsideration requests filed by conservation groups, landowners, counties and the Republican Legislative Intervenors for Justice, a group of about 40 state lawmakers.

Their objections to the pipeline project vary, but a main argument is that it’s improper for Summit to use eminent domain to force unwilling landowners to host its system on their properties.

The lawmakers have argued the commissioners were biased toward the company from the start and cherrypicked facts that justified a permit and eminent domain. They say the IUC’s permit process violated the due process rights of landowners and that its legal conclusions conflict with laws, court rulings and the state and federal constitutions.

Summit, in its response to the lawmakers’ request for reconsideration, said the request has no new arguments and “represents an improper attack by a minority of the Legislature on actions taken (or not taken) by that body,” according to IUC documents filed by Summit’s attorneys.

That was, in part, a reference to the failed legislative attempts to limit the use of eminent domain for Summit’s project in recent years. Republicans control the Iowa House — which passed an eminent domain bill — and they also control the Iowa Senate — which refused to consider it.

“RLIJ is a minority subset of the Iowa Legislature attempting to convince an executive branch agency to adopt a policy position that the legislators could not successfully get through their own branch of government,” Summit’s attorneys wrote. “Second, and even more astounding, RLIJ in nearly every instance is raising issues that are ultimately rooted in Iowa statutes passed by a majority of the Iowa Legislature.”

It’s unclear whether the opposition to eminent domain for the project is a minority opinion among lawmakers. The bill was overwhelmingly approved by the House with 73 “yes” votes, and there was no vote in the Senate, which has 50 members. READ MORE

Excerpt from Bloomberg Law: Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon-capture and storage pipeline, which would run across the US Corn Belt, is now expected to start operating in late 2026 or early 2027, a setback for a project that initially targeted this year for completion.

The new timing was disclosed at a conference Thursday (August 8, 2024) by Justin Kirchhoff, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group, which formed Iowa-based Summit Carbon in 2021
Summit expects the planned pipeline of about 2,500 miles to get needed approvals in North Dakota next month and Minnesota later in the year
Summit is still working on its permit reapplication in South Dakota, ... READ MORE

Excerpt from Network Today: U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks spoke about the conservative climate caucus during a visit to the Chevron Renewable Energy Group facility in Newton Aug. 15, 2024. -- U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks spoke Thursday in favor of carbon dioxide pipelines as a way to aid Iowa’s ethanol production industry with an environmentally conscious impact.

Miller-Meeks, the Republican representative for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, spoke about pipelines and other renewable fuel efforts supported by the Conservative Climate Caucus. She, alongside Republican Reps. Randy Weber of Texas, Doug Lamborn of Colorado and Brett Guthrie of Kentucky — fellow caucus members — visited the Chevron Renewable Energy Group in Newton as part of a trip to Iowa focused on increasing affordable, low-emission energy options.

Following a tour of the biodiesel production facility, the Iowa Republican said Iowa is a “forerunner and a leader” in enacting a conservative vision for climate-conscious energy production through the use of renewable fuels, wind and solar energy.

The caucus wants to explore ways to encourage the adoption of new climate-conscious technology and techniques, but Republicans encourage “market-based solutions” rather than government requirements, Miller-Meeks said. She criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for its approach to climate change solutions, citing the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules on issues like coal and natural gas-fired power plants and tailpipe emissions.

“We’re interested in innovation, how we can do things better,” Miller-Meeks said. “But importantly, no one wants brownouts, and no one wants sky-high electricity prices. And so there is a price to pay for what the Biden-Harris administration is doing, and we want to bring practical, innovative solutions and affordability and accessibility into the marketplace.”

As the Republican lawmakers seek to bolster alternative energy sources and production in the U.S., Miller-Meeks said carbon dioxide pipelines are one way to lower the carbon intensity score of ethanol, which she said in turn makes the industry competitive globally as American ethanol producers compete with countries like Brazil.

“I would say from the climate standpoint, if we’re not growing ethanol here in the U.S., and that increases the share from Brazil, they will cut down rainforests, and that is not environmentally friendly to do,” Miller-Meeks said. “So it makes sense in Iowa.”

...

Miller-Meeks said the use of eminent domain is a “state issue, not a federal issue,” but said the ideal is for a “limited amount of involuntary easements” to be used in pipeline projects. She also said it was important to remember that pipeline companies will not be taking or owning the land.

“I would say that farmers and property owners need to look at the why, the rationale, and then determine if it’s in their best interest,” she said. “Companies that are acquiring easements are looking at, ‘how do you make the land whole? How do you ensure farmers that you can grow crops in the near future, the timing, restructure so that land is put back in the position it was before they put in the pipeline?’” READ MORE

Excerpt from Iowa Utilities Commission:

The Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) has found that Summit Carbon Solutions, LLC (Summit Carbon), has substantially complied with the requirements of the IUC’s June 25, 2024, order regarding the company's application for a hazardous liquid pipeline permit and today has issued the permit under Iowa Code chapter 479B to Summit Carbon in Docket No. HLP-2021-0001. Today’s order issuing the permit does not modify the conditions Summit Carbon must establish in order to start construction.

On June 25, 2024, the IUC issued its final decision and order regarding Summit Carbon’s petition for hazardous liquid pipeline permit. As a part of its decision, the IUC required Summit Carbon to make numerous compliance filings with the IUC.

On August 5, 2024, Summit Carbon filed the compliance filings required by the IUC. The filings included revised petition exhibits. As it relates to the revised Exhibit H's, Summit Carbon states it made the required globally applicable changes to all outstanding Exhibit H's and made the modifications ordered by the IUC.

The IUC retains subject matter jurisdiction of this docket for purposes of receiving and acting upon such additional filings as may be appropriate.

Today’s order is available on the IUC’s website at https://iuc.iowa.gov. All public documents in this case are found in the IUC’s electronic filing system at https://efs.iowa.gov/efs/. READ MORE