Gevo Moved its Focus From Lake Preston to North Dakota Amid Carbon Pipeline Debate

(Courtesy Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden/Twitter via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – The leader of the company that abandoned its immediate plans to build a $2.6 billion ethanol-based jet fuel plant in Lake Preston said Friday that South Dakota is no longer a friendly place to do business.

In 2022, Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber stood alongside South Dakota Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, then the lieutenant governor, at the ceremonial groundbreaking for the project, billed as the largest economic development project in state history.

This week, Gruber and his Colorado-based company announced plans for a smaller jet fuel facility at an ethanol plant in Richardton, North Dakota.

Gevo bought the plant a year ago in the wake of South Dakota pushback on a carbon sequestration pipeline that was critical to the company’s Lake Preston business plan.