Summit Carbon Solutions proposes removing eight counties, 200 miles and 400 property owners from the planned route of its $9 billion carbon capture pipeline.
The Ames company, owned by Republican megadonor Bruce Rastetter, said Wednesday, May 12, it is refining the route after moving the project’s final sequestration destination to Wyoming from North Dakota.
Summit said it has filed a request with the Iowa Utilities Commission to modify the route, sending the pipeline from Iowa through Nebraska to Wyoming, instead of the original plan to send it from Iowa to North Dakota via South Dakota.
“We believe this is the right step for the project and the right step for the communities counting on new opportunities,” Summit CEO Joe Griffin said in a statement Wednesday.
Griffin emphasized Summit’s assertion that the pipeline will be essential to maintaining the competitiveness of ethanol producers and the farmers whose corn they use to produce the biofuel. Pipeline opponents said the route change proposal shows the project is in trouble.
The company seeks to capture carbon dioxide from dozens of Iowa and other Midwest ethanol plants, liquefy it under pressure and sequester it deep underground. That would qualify it for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal tax credits and allow the ethanol to be marketed as an ultra-low-carbon fuel, opening the possibility it could be used to meet what is expected to be growing demand for sustainable aviation and marine fuel.
“Agriculture is facing real economic pressure right now,” Griffin said. “Farmers and ethanol producers need access to new markets and long-term growth opportunities, and there is urgency to getting infrastructure like this moving forward.”
Summit also acknowledged Wednesday that it plans to use the captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery “where appropriate.” Enhanced oil recovery injects carbon dioxide to squeeze more oil out of existing wells, a method used in Wyoming’s oil fields.
Opponents say pipeline changes show project is in trouble
The South Dakota-to-North Dakota route for the pipeline became problematic last year when South Dakota lawmakers banned the use of eminent domain for the construction of carbon capture pipelines.
Iowans also have sought legislative action to prohibit carbon capture pipeline developers from having access to eminent domain powers, which would allow companies to force landowners to sell them access to their properties for their projects. In 2025, Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed a bill to ban eminent domain use for pipelines, and an attempt to craft a new bill failed to advance in this year’s legislative session.
Griffin said Summit’s focus is on building the “portions of the system that are economically positioned to move ahead now, while continuing to evaluate future expansion opportunities over time, including opportunities to connect additional ethanol facilities in future phases as market demand and project development continue to evolve.”
Opponents said Wednesday the route modification demonstrates the project is in trouble.
“Summit has been flailing around to try to keep their project viable, and now it looks like it’s falling apart,” Wally Taylor, the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter attorney, said in a statement.
“These significant changes show that Summit is struggling to make their project happen and trying to spin it as a win,” said Jess Mazour, the Sierra Club’s conservation associate. “It’s time Summit withdraws their application and accepts that Iowans do not want their carbon pipeline.”
The Summit proposal submitted to the Iowa Utilities Commission would remove from its route planned pipeline segments in Shelby, Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Adams, Page, Fremont, Mitchell and Worth counties, while also reducing pipeline mileage in Crawford, Floyd, Sioux and Dickinson counties.
“In total, the refinements will remove more than 400 landowners from the project footprint and reduce the overall scope of the project by approximately 200 miles,” Summit said.
“This allows us to focus on the core infrastructure that makes the most sense today and move through the process faster and more efficiently,” Griffin said, adding that even with the changes, “this remains the largest single private infrastructure investment in Iowa history.”
The project will continue to work with a core group of ethanol facilities, including 27 in Iowa, the nation’s top ethanol producer.
At this time, the company said it will not pursue routes to the Absolute Energy, POET Corning, POET Hanlontown and Green Plains Shenandoah plants.
“We continue to see strong support from the majority of landowners and stakeholders across our project footprint,” Griffin said. “These people understand that standing still is not an option in this economy. This project is about creating durable economic prosperity, strengthening rural communities, supporting America’s energy independence and national security interests, and helping ensure agriculture remains competitive for all future generations.”
There is no schedule yet for the Iowa utilities board to consider the changes to the proposal. It issued a permit for the original plan, including use of eminent domain, in 2024. Pipeline opponents have argued that, with any major proposed change to the pipeline, Summit should have to start over again with the permit process, which involved extensive hearings and public testimony.
Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Summit seeks to cut 8 Iowa counties from pipeline, change destination
Reporting by Donnelle Eller, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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