South Dakota denies CCS pipeline route application
South Dakota’s Public Utility Commission has denied Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) LLC’s route permit application for its 18-million tonne/year Midwest Carbon Express carbon capture and sequestration pipeline project in the US Midwest, voting 2-1 against it. The move followed a bill signed into law last month by South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden banning the use of eminent domain as a means of acquiring rights-of-way for the pipeline in South Dakota and a subsequent request by Summit for more time to find an alternate route.
The state’s Supreme Court last year ruled that Midwest Carbon Express was not a common carrier and that CO2 was not a commodity (two arguments advanced by SCS), effectively removing eminent domain from the list of available options even before the recent legislation.
The 2,500-mile system would gather CO2 from ethanol plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota for permanent sequestration in North Dakota. Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota had already approved the project.
Summit said it would refile its South Dakota application with an alternate, reduced route. The company had been planning to start construction no later than August 2026, but this was dependent on getting timely approval in South Dakota (OGJ Online, Feb. 20, 2025).
Christopher E. Smith | Editor in Chief
Chris brings 32 years of experience in a variety of oil and gas industry analysis and reporting roles to his work as Editor-in-Chief, specializing for the last 20 of them in midstream and transportation sectors.
