North Dakota state Sen. Jeffery Magrum, R-Hazelton, speaks on the Senate floor during the organizational session on Dec. 4, 2024. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
A bill that would have required carbon dioxide pipeline developer Summit Carbon Solutions to pay property taxes in the first 10 years of operation in North Dakota failed Thursday in the state Senate.
Sen. Jeff Magrum, R-Hazelton, sponsored Senate Bill 2320 that would have removed a tax exemption for interstate carbon dioxide pipelines such as the Summit project. North Dakota law requires the state to reimburse counties for the property tax they would have collected for the first 10 years the pipeline is operating.
Summit Carbon Solutions is attempting to build a 2,500-mile pipeline network across five states, including Iowa, ending in western North Dakota. About 333 miles would be in North Dakota.
Summit officials testified last week that about $800 million of the $9 billion project would be spent on the North Dakota portion of the pipeline that would gather carbon emissions from ethanol plants for permanent underground storage.
Sen. Dale Patten, R-Watford City, contended that eliminating the exemption would be a “bait and switch tactic” at this stage.
Magrum argued that the Iowa-based company has already benefited from research by the Energy and Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks and will benefit from other tax breaks.
“We’re trying to reduce property tax for our residents,” Magrum said. “Why wouldn’t we charge these out-of-staters?”
The bill is one of several related to carbon dioxide bills in the 2025 session.