South Dakota regulators sent the developer of a major carbon pipeline back to the drawing board this week, denying an application to cross the state and poking holes in the company’s plans.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission voted 2-1 Tuesday to reject an application from Summit Carbon Solutions to build nearly 700 miles of carbon dioxide pipeline in the state.
Iowa-based Summit has already pledged to refile an application with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, but exactly when that could happen is unclear. Also unknown is how Summit may or may not alter the proposed route in South Dakota.
The state is included in Summit’s broader $8.9 billion project — the Midwest Carbon Express — which is also designed to cross parts of North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. North Dakota is home to the project’s planned CO2 storage site. At roughly 2,500 miles, the proposed CO2 pipeline network dwarfs other efforts that also aim to move carbon to storage locations.
