MINNESOTA PUC GRANTS PERMIT TO SCS FOR CARBON CAPTURE PIPELINE

ST. PAUL, MN (Christopher Ingraham / Minnesota Reformer) – The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Thursday to grant a long-awaited permit to Summit Carbon Solutions, allowing the company to build a small portion of a planned 2,500-mile carbon capture pipeline network across five states including South Dakota.

The Minnesota segment would run 28 miles from an ethanol plant in Fergus Falls to the North Dakota border. It would consist of 4.5-inch diameter pipe sunk 54 inches underground. The company estimates construction could start as early as 2026, although it is still negotiating right-of-way agreements with seven landowners along the Minnesota route.

The pipeline would transport pressurized carbon dioxide from the ethanol plant to injection wells in North Dakota, which would pump the gas deep underground to be permanently stored in the rock. The goal is to prevent the greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

Commissioners raised concerns about the project’s long term viability, given that the company will be almost entirely dependent on federal carbon tax credits that a new Congress could decide to revoke as early as next year.

Summit is a “startup company who has built their model on tax credits that are somewhat tenuous in my mind,” Commissioner John Tuma said. If the federal tax credits dried up, “it would definitely cause a reassessment” of the project’s viability, a company representative said.

However, those concerns weren’t enough to prevent the project from proceeding.

“We thank the Minnesota PUC for their thorough and diligent review of our project,” said Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions, in a statement. “This decision underscores the importance of balancing economic opportunities for local communities with environmental stewardship.”

Summit was founded in 2021 with an eye toward capitalizing on federal 45Q tax credits, which were greatly expanded under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Carbon Capture has been a central pillar of President Joe Biden’s energy policy. If the project proceeds at the scale envisioned it could reap more than $18 billion in tax credits over 12 years.

Summit first applied for a Minnesota pipeline permit in 2022. In early 2023 the Public Utilities Commission asked the Department of Commerce to put together an environmental impact statement, which was completed in July 2024.

The Commission ruled Thursday that the 394-page document is an adequate assessment of the project and its risks, and that those risks aren’t sufficient to prevent the permit from being granted.

Environmental and rural advocacy groups oppose the pipeline, noting that the pipeline capture could one day be used to extract more oil from the ground, thus negating any decarbonization benefit.

The pipeline has additional route permits in Iowa and North Dakota, and is pursuing a permit in South Dakota, while Nebraska has no state permitting process for carbon pipelines. North Dakota is also considering a permit for the proposed underground storage site.

A separate carbon capture project, the Heartland Greenway pipeline, was scrapped late last year due to difficulties navigating state regulatory environments.

 

NORTH DAKOTA INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION APPROVES CO2 STORAGE FOR SUMMIT PIPELINE

BISMARCK, N.D. (Jeff Beach / North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota’s Industrial Commission on Thursday approved a plan to accept millions of tons of carbon dioxide to be permanently stored underground against the wishes of some landowners in the storage area.

Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions plans to build a network of pipelines that gathers carbon emissions from ethanol plants across five states, including South Dakota. If built, the pipeline will end west of Bismarck, where three injection wells will pump the carbon deep beneath private property into pore space — gaps and voids between the rocks.

Summit compensates landowners for use of their pore space but an attorney for a group of landowners questions the accuracy of the model used by Summit to estimate where the gas will go when it is pumped underground.

The Industrial Commission is composed of outgoing Gov. Doug Burgum, Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, who approved the permits unanimously.

Thursday’s action by the Industrial Commission uses a North Dakota rule governing pore space called amalgamation. If at least 60% of the landowners in the pore space area approve, the other 40% are forced to comply.

A lawsuit by the Northwest Landowners Association in North Dakota is already challenging the constitutionality of the amalgamation rule.

About 92% of landowners in the 90,000-acre sequestration area for Summit are participating voluntarily. The region includes parts of Oliver, Mercer and Morton counties. Department of Mineral Resources staff said landowners objecting to the project accounted for less than 2% of the acres. Carbon will be injected into the Broom Creek Formation about 5,500 feet below ground level.

Summit estimates it will pump about 18 million tons of carbon dioxide into the storage area each year. The company will take advantage of federal tax credits — $85 per ton of carbon stored — as an incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“These sequestration permits are the result of years of rigorous scientific study, engineering design, and input from regulators, landowners, and local leaders,” Wade Boeshans, executive vice president of Summit Carbon Solutions, said in a news release. “With these permits, we’re one step closer to providing vital infrastructure that benefits farmers, ethanol producers, and communities across the Midwest.”

The carbon will come from 57 ethanol plants in five states — Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Access to carbon capture and storage can significantly reduce an ethanol plant’s carbon score. Low-carbon ethanol may be able to fetch a premium price, which could also benefit corn growers. The carbon is captured during the fermentation process of turning corn into ethanol fuel.

Tharaldson Ethanol at Casselton is the only North Dakota ethanol plant in the Summit pipeline project.

Two other North Dakota ethanol plants are already capturing and sequestering carbon — Red Trail Energy at Richardton and Blue Flint Ethanol near Underwood. Those plants sit close to the areas with the suitable geology for carbon sequestration.

After the vote, project opponents cited a leak at a carbon sequestration facility in Decatur, Illinois, where corrosion allowed the gas to go outside the storage area.

“Recent incidents in Illinois, where CO2 leaked underground, demonstrate that we do not know enough about this technology to use North Dakota as a testing ground. Even Summit has stated that they cannot know the impacts of carbon dumping until they do them,” Scott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, a North Dakota-based environmental group, said in a news release.

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources determined that the storage wells do not endanger human health or the environment, and that Summit had made a good-faith effort to work with landowners in the sequestration area.

Officials did note the objection of some landowners, including Kurt Swenson, who lives south of Beulah and has property in Oliver and Mercer counties.

“I tried for a long time to negotiate with Summit,” Swenson told the North Dakota Monitor last week. He said he has been waiting three years for a counter-proposal from the company.

Summit Carbon Solutions has obtained pipeline permits in Iowa and North Dakota. Minnesota approved a short segment of the route Thursday.

Summit still needs a permit in South Dakota, where the Public Utilities Commission has scheduled six public input meetings in January. Nebraska has no state agency that permits carbon pipelines.

In most states, it is the Environmental Protection Agency that permits CO2 storage wells, but North Dakota was the first state to be granted primacy in Class VI injection well permitting.

 

SOUTH DAKOTA PUC PLANS SERIES OF PUBLIC INPUT MEETINGS ON CO2 PIPELINE

SOUTH DAKOTA – On November 19, 2024, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) received an application from SCS Carbon Transport LLC, that would be Summit Carbon Solutions, for a permit to construct and operate the Midwest Carbon Express, a carbon dioxide (CO2) transmission pipeline.

As part of the application process, the PUC has scheduled sixl public input meetings to gather comments and feedback from residents.

The meetings aim to allow local residents to learn more about the project, present their views, and ask questions.

The Midwest Carbon Express pipeline’s main line will enter Lincoln County, South Dakota, and extend northwest, exiting the state at the South Dakota/North Dakota border in McPherson County. The project includes pump stations, mainline valves, and approximately 16 miles of temporary and permanent access roads. Additionally, lateral and trunk lines connect various ethanol plants throughout eastern South Dakota to the main line.

The proposed total length of the pipeline through South Dakota is about 698 miles, traversing multiple counties, including Codington. The project’s estimated cost in South Dakota alone is $1.35 billion.

Public input is crucial for the PUC’s decision-making process. It ensures that the project complies with all applicable laws and does not threaten the environment or the community’s well-being.

The full application and additional details about the project are available on the PUC’s website at puc.sd.gov.

The meetings will be at the following places and times…

1/15/25 Sioux Falls 5:00 p.m., CT, at the HUB Auditorium, SE Technical College:

1/15/25 Mitchell 10:00 a.m. CT, at the Mitchell High School Performing Arts Center:

1/16/25 DeSmet 11:30 a.m., CT, at De Smet Event Center Theater:

1/16/25 Watertown 6:00 p.m., CT, at the Kampeska Hall, Ramkota Hotel & Watertown Event Center:

1/17/25 Aberdeen 10:30 a.m., CT, at the Dakota Event Center:

1/17/25 Redfield 6:00 p.m., CT, at Redfield School Auditorium

 

CIVICS COULD BE ADDED AS A COLLEGE GRADUATION REQUIREMENT IN SOUTH DAKOTA

SPEARFISH, S.D. (Makenzie Huber / South Dakota Searchlight) – Students attending South Dakota public universities may soon face a civics proficiency requirement to graduate.

Students will take three credits worth of civics education — either new classes created to meet the requirement or a general education class already in place that meets the standard. Students will not have to take more credits to graduate, said Shuree Mortenson, spokeswoman for the system.

“The student will be able to select from a list of courses that have been deemed as fulfilling that civics proficiency,” Mortenson said.

The South Dakota Board of Regents held its first reading of the general education policy change during its Thursday meeting at Black Hills State University in Spearfish. The policy will have its second reading in April and could become effective for new and transfer students in fall 2025, if approved.

“This requirement reflects our commitment to fostering informed and responsible citizens ready to meet the challenges of today’s society,” Executive Director Nathan Lukkes said in a news release.

The change comes amid a renewed focus on civics education in the state. The South Dakota Department of Education will implement controversial new social studies standards in 2025. The Legislature approved nearly $1 million this year to create a center for civic engagement at Black Hills State to help prepare civics programming and curriculum statewide.

House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, an advocate for more civics education, said he’s hopeful and enthusiastic about the regents’ change.

“The next generation in our universities will be leading our country one day,” he said. “Whatever major they have, they need to be able to take the reins of government.”

Civics proficiency will be defined as a student’s understanding of civic knowledge, values and skills, “enabling them to actively participate in civic life as informed and responsible citizens.”

The Board of Regents said key learning outcomes for the new requirement include:

Civic knowledge: understanding the American political system, including foundational concepts such as the Constitutional framework, participatory democracy and the evolution of institutions.

Civic values: articulating “core principles” of democracy, justice and equality, and applying them to modern and historic situations.

Civic skills: communicating viewpoints on political issues, engaging in civil discourse and analyzing the impact of participation on democratic processes.

“The pendulum is moving in the right direction,” Odenbach said. “We’ll keep an eye on it. We’ll see if it’s enough.”