South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioners. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
) – Summit Carbon Solutions’ pipeline route as proposed in its permit application is “not viable,” South Dakota regulators determined in Pierre. The Public Utilities Commission voted 2-1 to deny the company’s application, but Summit immediately pledged to reapply with a “reduced scope.”
It was the second South Dakota denial for Summit, which has been seeking a permit to build a portion of its proposed $9 billion pipeline through South Dakota since 2022. The commission denied the company’s first application in 2023, after which the company modified its route and reapplied.
The pipeline would carry carbon dioxide emissions captured from ethanol plants in five states to an underground storage site in North Dakota. The project seeks to capitalize on a broader federal push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and could qualify for federal tax credits tied to carbon sequestration.
Its path forward was complicated by the South Dakota Legislature’s passage of a carbon pipeline eminent domain ban, which was signed into law by Gov. Larry Rhoden in March. Eminent domain is a legal process that allows qualifying entities to acquire access to private land for projects in the public interest, with compensation.
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South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.
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