Summit Carbon Solutions on March 12 filed a motion with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission asking the agency to suspend the current schedule for its CO2 pipeline permit application, citing changing circumstances caused by the state’s new eminent domain law.&nbsp;South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden on March 6 <a href="https://ethanolproducer.com/articles/south-dakota-governor-signs-bill-to-prevent-the-use-of-eminent-domain-in-co2-pipeline-projects">signed a bill</a> to prevent the use of eminent domain for the development of CO2 pipelines. The law specifically targets the CO2 pipeline project under development by Summit Carbon Solutions and has been criticized by the company and other project stakeholders for “changing the rules in the middle of the game.”In its motion, Summit said the process of acquiring a permit for the CO2 pipeline route “necessitates a number of actual boots on the ground surveys, civil and biological and cultural in nature, in order to determine and prove to the Commission the feasibility of constructing and operating the facility over the permitted route.”Summit explained that the current survey law requires the surveying party to have an existing permit application and the legal authority to condemn right of way. With the passage of the new eminent domain law, HB 1052, Summit said its ability to obtain survey permission has changed. “However, the project must survey the route completely in order to inform the Commission of the constructability prior to obtaining a permit,” the company wrote. “The surveys which are necessarily required to inform the route decisions as to right of way will be significantly delayed.“The resulting delays in obtaining the surveys mean that the timelines involved in Commission action on this application are unrealistic,” Summit continued. “Accordingly, the Applicant asks that the proceedings be paused for review and adjustment of the schedule until such time as the Applicant is prepared to proceed.”The South Dakota PUC has announced it will hold a hearing to consider Summit’s motion on April 10.Summit in November 2024 filed an application to construct the South Dakota portion of its proposed CO2 pipeline project with the South Dakota PUC. The full CO2 pipeline project spans areas in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and North Dakota. The project aims to capture CO2 produced at 57 partnering ethanol plants and transport that CO2 to North Dakota for secure geologic sequestration. The company has already secured a route permit from the North Dakota Public Service Commission, three Class VI sequestration permits from the North Dakota Industrial Commission, and a pipeline permit for a 28-mile pipeline route from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.&nbsp;&nbsp;

2025-03-13 - Summit Carbon Solutions asks South Dakota PUC to pause permit application  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

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Summit Carbon Solutions on March 12 filed a motion with the South Dakota PUC asking the agency to suspend the current schedule for its CO2 pipeline permit application, citing changing circumstances caused by the state’s new eminent domain law. 

Summit Carbon Solutions asks South Dakota PUC to pause permit application

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