MN utility commission: CO2 pipelines should be regulated

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota utility regulators have decided pipelines that carry carbon dioxide are hazardous and therefore subject to state approval. The decision by the Public Utilities Commission Thursday (May 19, 2022) affects two multibillion-dollar CO2 pipelines proposed to cross Minnesota and carry waste from several ethanol plants in the Midwest. Commissioners interpreted a 1998 state law on pipelines that carry hazardous materials includes those transporting carbon dioxide. The decision initiates a rulemaking process that could take a year to complete. Actual approval of any CO2 pipeline could take months after that. The companies seeking to build the pipelines disagree with the commission’s decision.