The Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) has issued a construction permit for Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed hazardous liquid pipeline across Iowa.
The IUC’s decision Wednesday (08.28) was not unexpected, given a June 25th order approved the project while requiring Summit submit numerous filings demonstrating compliance with regulatory requirements. Among them, securing and maintaining a $100 million insurance policy and compensating landowners for any damages that result from the pipeline’s construction.
Summit submitted the required compliance filings August 5th, clearing the way for the construction permit. However, the IUC still mandates the company cannot begin construction unless the project is approved in North Dakota and South Dakota.
Summit hopes to begin construction next year and have the pipeline operational in 2026. Thus far, the construction permit approved by the IUC only pertains to Summit’s “main line,” which includes a branch starting with the Homeland Energy Solutions ethanol plant between Lawler and New Hampton. It would go west through Chickasaw, Floyd, and Cerro Gordo counties to Golden Grain Energy near Mason City, and continue into Hancock and Kossuth counties.
Summit’s construction permit was approved despite objections filed by various groups, including Republican Legislative Intervenors for Justice, a group of 26 state representatives and 11 state senators who oppose the use of eminent domain for the project, led by State Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City. A reconsideration request was also filed by Tim Whipple, an attorney who represents Dickinson, Emmet, Floyd, Kossuth, Shelby, Woodbury and Wright counties.
Meanwhile, the IUC began hosting public informational meetings this week for another Summit permit to add ethanol plants to its project that were previously associated with the Navigator CO2 Ventures carbon pipeline, which pulled its application last October. Plants include Valero Renewables near Charles City and Lakota, Absolute Energy near St. Ansgar, and Poet Bioprocessing facilities near Shell Rock, Fairbank, and Hanlontown.
