Updated October 7, 2026
Note: The IUC's electronic filing system (EFS) now requires users to create an account (316.21 KB) .pdf to access documents, including the links below.
Applications
Summit Carbon Solutions (Summit Carbon) and an affiliated company, SCS Carbon Transport LLC (SCS), proposed to construct hazardous liquid pipeline projects across Iowa and filed applications in 16 dockets, later withdrawing petitions for pipeline laterals in four dockets.
Original petition
Summit Carbon filed a petition (application) in January 2022 in Docket No. HLP-2021-0001 to construct, maintain, and operate 688 miles of 6- to 24-inch diameter pipeline. The project, known as the Midwest Carbon Express, is the main pipeline in the overall project proposed by Summit Carbon.
The IUC approved a permit in June 2024, with stipulations. (Additional information below.)
- In June 2026, the company filed revisions to its petition to amend the existing permit that proposes an altered route removing eight counties (Shelby, Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Adams, Page, Fremont, Mitchell and Worth) from the proposed project.
Petitions for laterals
From October 2024 through February 2025, SCS filed permit applications in Docket Nos. HLP-2024-0001 through HLP-2024-0014 for a carbon capture and sequestration project spanning 23 counties with approximately 340 miles of 6- and 8-inch diameter CO2 pipeline. SCS proposed to build 18 trunk and lateral pipelines that would connect POET Bioprocessing (POET) and Valero Renewables (Valero) facilities to Summit Carbon's proposed Midwest Carbon Express.
In June 2026, the company filed a withdrawal of Docket Nos. HLP-2024-0006, HLP-2024-0007, and HLP-2024-0009.
Scheduling conferences were held September 14, 2026, in Docket Nos. HLP-2024-0005 and Docket No. HLP-2024-0008. Scheduling conferences have not yet been scheduled in Docket Nos. HLP-2024-0001 through HLP-2024-0004 and HLP-2024-0010 through HLP-2024-0014.
Scheduled proceedings
Scheduling conferences were held in September 2026 in two dockets, HLP-2024-0005 and HLP-2024-0008, and procedural schedules with deadlines for intervention and filing testimony and setting hearing dates were included in October 7 orders denying consolidation. Hearings will be held in Des Moines in both dockets:
HLP-2024-0005: Hearing February 23, 2027 - see procedural schedule (43.35 KB) Archived .pdf
HLP-2024-0008: Hearing March 23, 2027 - see procedural schedule (43.47 KB) Archived .pdf
For all proposed projects, county-specific maps are on file in the respective dockets.
Docket No. HLP-2021-0001 activity
Regarding Docket No. HLP-2021-0001, over 34 months the IUC:
- conducted 33 public informational meetings
- received approximately 50,000 pages of prefiled testimony and exhibits from hundreds of witnesses and landowners
- conducted a public hearing over 25 days
- accepted more than 150 intervenors into the docket
- heard testimony at hearing from more than 200 witnesses and landowners
- reviewed nearly 7,500 pages of hearing transcript, and
- reviewed almost 4,200 written comments, including 600 filed after the deadline set by Iowa law.
Final decision
The IUC issued its Final Decision and Order in Docket No. HLP-2021-0001 on June 25, 2024. Read the complete order.
Permit issued
On August 28, 2024, the IUC issued a permit to Summit Carbon in Docket No. HLP-2021-0001 to construct the 688-mile hazardous liquid pipeline. The IUC found Summit Carbon was in substantial compliance with the Final Decision and Order issued in the docket and noted that Summit Carbon, although receiving a permit, still must meet all conditions of the June 25 order before it can begin construction.
Court action
Between September 10 and 13, 2024, several parties sought judicial review of the IUC’s permit decision in Polk County District Court.
On September 15, 2025, Summit Carbon filed a Petition for Amendment in the docket.
On September 19, 2025, Summit Carbon filed a motion for remand in district court to have the docket sent back to the IUC in order to allow the IUC to consider the impacts, if any, the passage of South Dakota House Bill 1052 have on the IUC’s Final Decision and Order.
In December 2025 and January 2026, the district court issued orders ruling there was good reason for remand as it relates to the passage of the South Dakota law.
Order on Remand
On June 30, 2026, the IUC issued an order regarding the remand, which modified the condition that Summit Carbon obtain agency-level approval from North Dakota and South Dakota for a pipeline route and from North Dakota for sequestration prior to beginning construction in Iowa. The IUC modified the condition to require Summit Carbon to demonstrate to the IUC that it had agency-level, or substantially similar, approval for a sequestration location, as well as agency level or substantially similar approval for a route to the sequestration location.
After the issuance of the IUC’s order, the docket was returned to Polk County District Court where several parties have requested a stay of all IUC action within Docket No. HLP-2021-0001. No ruling has yet been made on this request.
Pipeline Permit Process
The IUC has authority over the routing and siting of hazardous liquid pipelines in Iowa. When a company wants to build a pipeline to transport a hazardous liquid, it must first get a permit from the IUC. Requirements can be found in Iowa Code chapter 479B.
Public informational meetings are the first step in the process. Informational meetings are required in each county where real property or property rights are affected by the proposed project. A company cannot file an application until at least 30 days after the final informational meeting has been held in any affected county. Comments made at informational meetings are not part of the evidentiary record.
Comments, objections, and letters of support
You may submit information in an open docket by one of these methods:
- Online - Use the IUC’s Open Docket Comment Form. You can also choose whether to receive email notifications when there are filings in the docket.
- By email - Send to [email protected].
- In writing - Submit written comments to Iowa Utilities Commission, Attn: Customer Service, 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, IA 50319-0069.
Be sure to include the docket number on your comments.
All written comments, objections, and letters of support are filed in the docket and become part of the public record. This information is made available to the Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), a division of the Department of Justice, which represents the public interest in cases before the IUC.
The IUC does not respond to or address written comments, but they are reviewed before the IUC makes its decision in the case.
Note: Some activity in these dockets refer to the Iowa Utilities Commission by the agency's name prior to July 1, 2024, Iowa Utilities Board (IUB).