Permitting Reform Begins
Those of you who followed the intense twists and turns of negotiations to lift the nation’s debt ceiling over the last few weeks know that permitting reform was in and out of the deal depending on the day and the hour – but in the end, the bill signed by President Biden delivered some welcome changes to how we build energy projects in the United States.
Setting aside the usual partisan attacks on the permitting provisions as either too weak or too favorable to a particular pipeline in West Virginia, many Democrats and Republicans say they represent a good first step in reform and avoid the most controversial ideas while promising to speed project reviews.
They also say that much more work remains to speed the deployment of clean energy projects and an electricity grid to support them. Those next steps will be a focus for Bipartisan Climate Action and our partners in the months to come.
What’s in the bill? To start, streamlined procedures for the environmental review process for new energy projects. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) secured inclusion of provisions from his Building United States Infrastructure through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act. This included project threshold, interagency cooperation and review deadlines to catalyze project approval. It also expedites the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), requires the drafting of an interregional transfer capability determination study and adds energy storage as a covered project under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (P.L. 114-94). I believe that adding energy storage as a covered project will turn out to have the biggest impact. A 21st century grid is simply not possible without massive storage capability.
What’s next? By all accounts (and an apparent commitment from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to President Biden during the negotiations): reforms to how the country reviews and approves new transmission projects – the energy backbone we need to move clean electricity around the country.
The U.S. by the way lags far behind in grid expansion and transmission. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, the opportunity loss from U.S. underinvestment in regional grid linkages in 2022 was at its highest level in a decade. The U.S. contains near the same level of high voltage direct current (HVDC) as Denmark, but our projected HVDC intensity is only 2 kilometers of transmission per gigawatt of generation capacity, and we need much more transmission capacity.
Thankfully the transmission conversation has started on both sides of the aisle:
Reps. Sean Casten (D-IL) and Mike Levin (D-CA), have begun the introductory process for their new bill, The Clean Electricity and Transmission Acceleration Act of 2023 (CETA). CETA aims to reinvent energy markets by reforming transmission permitting and siting processes. Rep. Levin stated that CETA would expand high-capacity transmission, reform the interconnection process, and build on the $1 billion dollars secured in the Inflation Reduction Act to ensure federal agencies have the resources and processes to conduct efficient environmental reviews.
The New Democrat Coalition Climate Change and Clean Energy Task Force penned a letter to the White House requesting an accelerated effort towards clean energy deployment. Using Section 216(h) of the Federal Power Act, New Dem leaders asked the Biden-Harris Administration to “enhance America’s clean energy abilities by increasing coordination on federal authorizations and environmental reviews to cite more electric transmission lines”. Spearheaded by Chair Rep. Scott Peters (CA-50) and Vice Chairs Casten, Eric Sorensen (IL-17), and Susan Wild (PA-07), it is clear that New Dems understand the necessity of bipartisanship in establishing modern-day American clean energy security.
Ranking Member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), introduced the SPUR Act. It would allow the DOE to increase the approval speed of LNG export applications following FERC approvals. The SPUR Act also expands the validity of drill permits from 2 years to 4 years. Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), has proposed the RESTART Act, which outlines a one-year timeline for Environmental Assessments through NEPA and a two year limit for Environmental Impact Statements.
On the Slate
Rep. Andrew Garbarino R (NY-2) took over as Chair of the House Climate Solutions Caucus and he quickly identified the priority of adding new GOP members. Adding members to a bipartisan caucus focused on climate solutions is an under-appreciated challenge. Well done Congressman Garbarino for encouraging new membership.
David Valadao
Tony Gonzales
Maria Elvira Salazar
Carlos Gimenez
Nancy Mace
Dusty Johnson
Young Kim
Mike Lawle
Julia Letlow
Anthony D’Esposito
Marcus Molinaro
Nicole Malliotakis
Positive Notes
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), discussed the serious need for bipartisan cooperation and American leadership in nuclear energy during an Energy, Climate, & Grid Security Subcommittee hearing. Towards the end of her opening remarks, which can be watched here, Rep. Rodgers specifically calls for bipartisanship, stating that it is fundamental “to restore American nuclear leadership and to advance clean and secure energy here and around the world”.
As always, I encourage you to forward this email to anyone who may be interested in supporting our work or our members, and of course feel free to reach out to me anytime.
