The Iowa Utilities Commission has issued a permit to Summit Carbon Solutions to construct and operate a carbon dioxide pipeline system in the state.

That issuance, granted Wednesday, was mostly a foregone conclusion after the commission announced in June the project met state requirements, pending some revisions to the initial proposal.

The Iowa Utilities Commission held its evidentiary hearing for Summit Carbon Solution’s pipeline project starting in August 2023 in Fort Dodge. (Lily Smith/Des Moines Register via AP)

Summit wants to build a 2,500-mile pipeline network in five states to transport captured carbon dioxide from nearly 60 ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground storage.

About half of those ethanol sites are in Iowa. The new permit covers the company’s initial request to build about 690 miles of pipe. Summit is seeking further permits to expand the project by more than 350 miles in Iowa.

“The pipeline will grow markets and work with ethanol partners to drive economic growth, supporting the long-term viability of our farmers and rural communities,” said Sabrina Zenor, a Summit spokesperson.

The project would make Summit and the ethanol producers eligible for federal tax incentives that reward the sequestration of carbon dioxide and the production of low-carbon fuels. The ethanol industry is a key market for crop farmers — more than half of Iowa’s corn is used to produce the fuel.

Zenor said sustaining that demand for corn is critical, especially now when corn prices are low enough to make growing the crop potentially unprofitable. Corn’s current value is about half of its recent peak in 2022. Ethanol producers who connect to Summit’s project could sell their fuels in low-carbon markets in other states and countries, or to be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel.

The commission said in its Wednesday order that Summit has “substantially complied” with the requirements laid out in June, and that any remaining discrepancies “can be addressed after the issuance of the permit.”

A condition of the Iowa permit is that Summit cannot start construction until it has approval from state regulators in the Dakotas. Both states have rejected the company’s initial proposals. North Dakota is reconsidering an amended pipeline route, and Summit has not yet filed a new permit application in South Dakota.

The South Dakota Supreme Court recently overturned lower court rulings in favor of Summit in regard to land surveys, and in that decision justices questioned whether the project is eligible to use eminent domain to acquire easements.

Summit wants to use eminent domain to force unwilling landowners to host its pipeline. Without it, the project would be imperiled.

The Sierra Club of Iowa, a leading opponent of the project, decried the commission’s permit approval given the uncertainty in the Dakotas and the court challenges that are expected in Iowa.

“This is unbelievable,” the Sierra Club said in a statement Thursday. “It’s a permit to nowhere.”