KING: Summit’s Shameless Power Grab

Bruce Rastetter’s Summit Carbon Solutions is at it again. Their CO2 pipeline scheme—siphoning emissions from Corn Belt ethanol plants, compressing them to a supercritical 2,200 psi, and pumping them to North Dakota for underground storage in exchange for taxpayer handouts—has hit a new low. Summit is now begging the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) to rewrite the rules of their “final” permit, exposing their hypocrisy and trampling on Iowa landowners’ rights.

Since 2021, Summit has hounded Iowa farmers, pressuring them for easements while dangling the threat of eminent domain as a “last resort.” That “last resort” is a loaded gun to landowners’ heads. After months of hearings, the IUC granted Summit a conditional permit in June 2024 to build 688 miles of their 2,500-mile pipeline, complete with eminent domain authority for a specific route and pipe size. The catch? Summit had to secure approval to build through South Dakota and to a designated endpoint in North Dakota. They failed. South Dakota’s Public Utilities Commission slammed the door shut, declaring the project dead in their state.

Now, Summit wants Iowa to change the game. They’re asking the IUC to gut the conditions of their “Final Order,” scrapping requirements that prevent a “pipeline to nowhere.” Worse, they’re demanding the power to condemn hundreds of Iowa properties forany route to any destination. This isn’t a request—it’s an audacious assault on justice, akin to ordering the Supreme Court to rewrite its rulings. Summit’s own testimony swore the pipeline’s purpose was CO2 sequestration in North Dakota’s deep formations. Yet, in North Dakota, they openly pitch it for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). If the IUC bends to this bait-and-switch, Iowa will be left with a pipeline to nowhere, for a purpose unknown.

Meanwhile, Iowa landowners endure their fifth year of torment. Fighting for their God-given, constitutionally protected property rights, they’ve spent thousands on legal fees, battling a “Final Order” that Summit now wants to rewrite as a blank check. The permit’s open-ended nature traps their land in limbo—property values plummet, development stalls, and stress festers. When does this nightmare end?

Summit’s playbook is clear: sue anyone who resists. They’ve dragged states, counties, and landowners to court, only to face a growing wave of countersuits from those they’ve targeted. The system is rigged to favor Summit’s army of lawyers, delaying landowners’ day in court until the IUC’s verdict is final. Now, with the August 2024 permit in hand, Summit wants to move the goalposts, leaving farmers to foot the bill for a fight against a pipeline that could go anywhere.

Let’s not kid ourselves about Bruce Rastetter’s influence into every decision-making body in the affected states. He is not the governor of Iowa, but the governor is described as his “errand girl.” He has no vote in Congress, but the delegation projects his will. He holds no seat in the Iowa Senate yet appears to control a full score of Senate votes. He’s not on the IUC, but their decisions bend to his will. Enough is enough.

If the IUC entertains Summit’s rule-changing stunt, they should echo South Dakota’s resounding rebuke: “You are not a common carrier. CO2 is not a commodity. No eminent domain for private gain.” Summit can’t lecture Iowans about “changing the rules in the middle of the game” while demanding a free pass to do exactly that. The IUC must end this farce—cancel the conditional permit, nullify the “Final Order,” and free Iowa landowners from Summit’s relentless greed.