The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission is asking Summit Carbon Solutions to have a clearer path forward before agreeing to suspend its application.
The suspension request came following the Legislature’s passage of HB 1052, banning eminent domain for a carbon pipeline.
Many said if HB 1052 became law it would have been a “kill shot” to the project. Summit’s representation said nothing is certain.
“What I’m asking you for is some small number of months, to find that out for sure," said Summit attorney Brett Koenecke.
PUC commissioners questioned Koenecke about the viability of the project. They asked what the plan is moving forward with the current application, and if Summit believes the current application might not be possible, why they don’t suspend it altogether.
Koenecke said at this point it’s just too early to tell.
“I think that there are questions in my mind and questions in the project’s mind about how much of the application might remain viable. It could be all, perhaps not,” Koenecke said. “It could be parts. So, I do think that there’s economy to be found using this application, this docket, or the portions thereof that are viable, and if it turns out that’s not the case, that’s a decision that can be made down the road.”
In opposition to Summit is Brian Jorde, an attorney representing landowners who are against the project. He requested the application be denied in its entirety.
"To no fault of Summit’s own, the world has changed. And I think that’s the reality that they don’t want to accept,” Jorde said. “And so, we analyze on what the world is now. And the contents now, we believe, are not in the form required.”
The PUC noted that technically, HB 1052 can’t legally be considered law until it takes effect on July 1. For that reason, they didn’t act on Jorde’s motion to deny the application Thursday.
The PUC said it didn’t like the idea of an indefinite suspension without a clear plan in place. Because of that, the PUC gave Summit two weeks until their next meeting to come up with more answers given the circumstances.
