Summit Carbon Solutions must reveal financial aspects of its agreements with ethanol plants to attorneys for groups seeking to verify the economic claims of Summit’s proposed carbon dioxide pipeline.
However, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) decision also allows the company to declare that unspecified “critical timing-related provisions” of the contract can be redacted.
The order follows a dispute over whether specific terms of the ethanol plant contracts are germane to Iowa’s hazardous pipeline permit process and if Summit’s project meets “the public convenience and necessity.”
Summit’s CO2 pipeline would span more than 2,000 miles in five states and connect to more than 30 ethanol plants, including Homeland Energy Solutions near New Hampton, Absolute Energy near St. Ansgar, Golden Grain Energy near Mason City.
The company’s witness testimony in pursuit of an Iowa permit claims ethanol producers might generate 10 to 35 cents of additional revenue per gallon because of the project. A study commissioned by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association — which supports Summit’s project — said carbon dioxide pipelines could more than triple the profit margins of ethanol plants.
The IUB ordered Summit to provide the contracts with the provisions redacted within two days. The company will use a data-sharing site to disseminate those contracts, where they can be viewed but not downloaded.
The final evidentiary hearing for Summit’s permit is set to start Tuesday in Fort Dodge, although there are pending requests to delay the proceedings. The IUB recently published a schedule of witnesses including landowners, like Jessica Marson of Floyd County, who declined to sign voluntary easements for pipeline construction and are subject to Summit’s eminent domain requests.
