Regulators approve the North Dakota portion of the planned five-state carbon dioxide pipeline across the Midwest

BISMARCK, N.D – North Dakota utility regulators approved Friday for a period of a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline that would cross five Midwestern states — a major win for the company that has been vocal in its dealings objections from landowners and various obstacles and setbacks in his plans.

The State Public Service Commission voted unanimously to approve a site permit for Summit Carbon Solutions’ modified 333-mile route in North Dakota. The company has proposed an $8 billion, 2,500-mile pipeline system would carry tons of planet-warming CO2 emissions from 57 ethanol plants in five states for storage deep underground in North Dakota.

Construction has not started anywhere on Summit’s proposed route. Iowa has approved the project, but other hurdles remain in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.

The approval is a victory for the company after North Dakota initially denied a permit in 2023, followed shortly after by a denial in South Dakota. Another company, Navigator CO2 Ventures, cancelled his project around the same time due to the “unpredictable nature of the regulatory and governmental processes involved, especially in South Dakota and Iowa.”

Supporters cheer carbon capture projects as a way to combat climate change, with lucrative federal tax credits available for such efforts. The ethanol industry sees Summit’s project opening up sustainable aviation fuel markets, a boost for ethanol and No. 1 corn producer Iowa.

Doug Burgum, Governor of North Dakota, now President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of the Interior a position broad influence over natural resources, has recommended his state’s underground CO2 storage potential as a ‘geological jackpot’.

Opponents of the top, including many landowners in the Midwest, decry the potential of one pipe breakage releasing dangerous, heavy CO2 gas flowing over the land, endangering people’s health and lives. They also fear their country will be taken through eminent domain.

Randy Christmann, chairman of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, urged Summit not to use eminent domain, “at least no more than absolutely necessary.” Eminent domain does not fall under the panel’s jurisdiction nor is it part of the listing process, he said.

Summit CEO Lee Blank told reporters the company is pleased with the panel’s decision. He said Summit has worked with landowners on a voluntary basis and will continue to do so.

“Our goal again is to gain as much preemption as we voluntarily can, and ultimately we hope to do 100% of that eventually,” Blank said.

Summit said Friday it has acquired easements for more than 82% of its North Dakota route.

Republican Sen. Jeff Magrum, an opponent whose district the pipeline would cut through, said he would prefer to see investments in roads, bridges and dams rather than “Green New Deal” projects that provide no benefit to our state or country. He expects the panel’s decision will be challenged.

Carbon capture skeptics say the technology has not yet been widely tested and will allow the fossil fuel industry to continue largely unchanged.

In August, the Iowa Utilities Commission granted Summit a hazardous liquid pipeline permit after the company’s application was approved in June. The panel also granted Summit the right of eminent domain over numerous parcels of land.

But the company can’t begin construction in Iowa until it has route approvals from both Dakotas and approval for underground storage in North Dakota, among other things. The Iowa panel’s decision led to lawsuits in opposition.

Christmann said the permit has no restrictions based on what other states are doing.

The North Dakota panel did refused Top an establishment permit in August 2023. That’s what the regulators said The Summit did not adequately address several issues, including geological instability, natural areas, impacts on cultural resources and some landowner concerns.

Shortly afterwards, the panel agreed reconsider, the beginning of more than a year full of meetings and documents files.

Summit has submitted a permit for three storage facilities applications to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, but no decision has been made yet.

By 2022, Minnkota Power Cooperative and Summit agreed to collaborate on developing carbon storage in central North Dakota, a pact that also allows Summit to use Minnkota’s previously authorized 100 million tons of underground storage.

In September 2023, the Public Utilities Commission of South Dakota refused Summit’s permit application after committee said the staff the route would violate provincial regulations on setback distances. Summit has said it plans to reapply for a permit this month.

In one referendum earlier this month, voters in South Dakota rejected the proposal a package of regulations which opponents said would deny local control over such projects and consolidate the authority of state regulators. Proponents had promoted it as a “constitution.”

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide Dec. 12 whether to approve a 28-mile pipeline that would connect an ethanol plant near Fergus Falls to Summit’s network in North Dakota. An administrative judge recommended that the commissioners believe that the environmental assessment for the Minnesota section met legal requirements and issued a route permit to Summit.

Critics had expressed concerns to the judge about the impact on farms and water supplies, suggesting there were better ways to reduce carbon emissions. They also argued that the environmental review should have been expanded to look at the impacts of the broader proposed Midwest Carbon Express pipeline network, which would connect Summit.

In Nebraska, where there is no state regulatory process for CO2 pipelines, Summit is working with individual counties to advance its project. At least one province has denied a permit.

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AP reporter Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this story.