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For Immediate Release:
December 12, 2024
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Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
Contact: Cori Rude-Young, 651-201-2241
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Minnesota Public Utilities Commission grants approval for Summit Carbon pipeline
St. Paul, Minn. – The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved Summit Carbon Solutions proposed carbon capture and storage pipeline project with conditions.
The approval is contingent upon the pipeline not only receiving the necessary permits but beginning construction in other states along the proposed route before construction can begin in Minnesota. As recommended by the Administrative Law Judge, the Commission selected the southern route to minimize the impacts of the project.
The Otter Tail to Wilkin Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Project is a proposed 28-mile, 4.5-inch diameter carbon steel pipeline by Summit Carbon Solutions. It is designed to transport captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the Green Plains Ethanol Plant near Fergus Falls in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, to the North Dakota border south of Breckenridge in Wilkin County. From there, the CO₂ is sequestered underground in North Dakota using Class VI injection wells.
“The Commission appreciates the robust stakeholder and landowner participation in this project,” said PUC Commissioner John Tuma. “To protect landowners, the company may not begin construction in Minnesota until it provides documentation that it has started construction in North Dakota.”
As part project approval the Commission included the following permit conditions:
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Provide CO₂ monitors for residences within 1,000 feet of the project if a landowner requests.
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Provide funding for training and equipment to first responders.
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Require the permit holder to have general liability insurance.
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Require the Department of Commerce to review the pipeline’s decommissioning costs, type of financial security instrument, terms and conditions for the security instrument, and insurance requirements.
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Obtain voluntary landowner agreements along the entire route before the start of construction and compensate landowner for damage to crops and reduction in yields.
About
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission regulates three cornerstone service industries in Minnesota's economy: electricity, natural gas and telephone. The Commission’s mission is to create and maintain a regulatory environment that ensures safe, adequate, and efficient utility services at fair, reasonable rates consistent with State telecommunications and energy policies. It does so by providing independent, consistent, professional, and comprehensive oversight and regulation of utility service providers. Learn more at mn.gov/puc.
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