Minnesota PUC Grants Long-Awaited Permit for Carbon Capture Pipeline

By Christopher Ingraham

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Thursday to grant a long-awaited permit to Summit Carbon Solutions, allowing the company to build a small portion of a planned 2,500-mile carbon capture pipeline network across the Midwest.

The Minnesota segment would run 28 miles from an ethanol plant in Fergus Falls to the North Dakota border. It would consist of 4.5-inch diameter pipe sunk 54 inches underground. The company estimates construction could start as early as 2026, although it is still negotiating right-of-way agreements with seven landowners along the route.

The pipeline would transport pressurized carbon dioxide from the ethanol plant to injection wells in North Dakota, which would pump the gas deep underground to be permanently stored in the rock. The goal is to prevent the greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

Commissioners raised concerns about the project’s long term viability, given that the company will be almost entirely dependent on federal carbon tax credits that a new Congress could decide to revoke as early as next year.

Summit is a “startup company who has built their model on tax credits that are somewhat tenuous in my mind,” Commissioner John Tuma said. If the federal tax credits dried up, “it would definitely cause a reassessment” of the project’s viability, a company representative said.

However, those concerns weren’t enough to prevent the project from proceeding.

“We thank the Minnesota PUC for their thorough and diligent review of our project,” said Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions, in a statement. “This decision underscores the importance of balancing economic opportunities for local communities with environmental stewardship.”

In a statement, rural advocacy group CURE, which opposes the pipeline, said “we are disappointed, if not surprised, by the PUC’s decision to give Summit its permit.” The group noted that “many questions remain about this project, how it will roll out, and what the impacts will be.”

Summit was founded in 2021 with an eye toward capitalizing on federal 45Q tax credits, which were greatly expanded under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Carbon Capture has been a central pillar of President Joe Biden’s energy policy. If the project proceeds at the scale envisioned it could reap more than $18 billion in tax credits over 12 years.

Summit first applied for a Minnesota pipeline permit in 2022. In early 2023 the Public Utilities Commission asked the Department of Commerce to put together an environmental impact statement, which was completed in July 2024.

The Commission ruled today that the 394-page document is an adequate assessment of the project and its risks, and that those risks aren’t sufficient to prevent the permit from being granted.

Environmental and rural advocacy groups oppose the pipeline, noting that the carbon captured could one day be used to extract more oil from the ground, thus negating any decarbonization benefit.

A separate carbon capture project, the Heartland Greenway pipeline, was scrapped late last year due to difficulties navigating state regulatory environments.

Minnesota Reformer is part of the States Newsroom, a network of similar news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.