Dive Brief:
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Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., on Monday introduced permitting reform legislation that would bolster the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority to approve transmission lines and require interregional transmission planning.
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The Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 would eliminate the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor designation process and instead allow FERC to approve transmission projects that meet certain requirements to be deemed to be in the national interest.
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Transmission and clean energy groups said they generally back the bill. They include the American Clean Power Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association, the American Council on Renewable Energy, Advanced Energy United and Americans for a Clean Energy Grid. The Sierra Club said the bill offered handouts to the fossil fuel industry while there were better ways to support clean energy development.
Dive Insight:
“Bipartisan permitting and transmission reform is a welcome development to keep energy costs down and supplies reliable," Devin Hartman, director of energy and environmental policy at the R Street Institute, said in an email Tuesday. Moving the legislation will be “challenging” this year, and the best odds of action may be during the “lame duck” session after the election, Hartman said.
If the bill doesn’t pass this year, it moves permitting and transmission reform up the agenda for the next Congress, Hartman said, pointing to buy-in from the previous Congress that made last year's permitting reform possible.
“As grid reliability authorities continue to reveal the merits of transmission expansion, I would expect momentum for interregional transmission reform to build as well," Hartman said.
Manchin, who will exit Congress when this term ends, has been pushing for permitting reform legislation for several years. The bill grew out of hearings held by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and bipartisan discussion, according to Manchin, the committee chairman.
“Ranking Member Barrasso and I have put together a commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation that will speed up permitting and provide more certainty for all types of energy and mineral projects without bypassing important protections for our environment and impacted communities,” Manchin said in a press release.
The bill sets deadlines for filing suits over energy and mineral projects, sets requirements for onshore and offshore oil, gas, coal and renewable energy leasing and permitting as well as for transmission siting. It also includes provisions on hard rock mining and sets a 90-day deadline for the Secretary of Energy to grant or deny liquefied natural gas export applications, according to a summary of the legislation.
The bill orders FERC to issue a rule on interregional transmission planning within 180 days of the legislation’s enactment, according to the summary. The rule would require neighboring transmission planning regions to draft joint interregional transmission plans, and to establish rate treatments for interregional transmission planning and cost allocation.
The bill requires transmission planners to consider advanced conductors and reconductoring as a way to maximize the transmission capabilities of existing infrastructure and rights-of-way, according to the summary. It requires that interregional plans account for a minimum list of reliability and affordability benefits and contain criteria for regions to select facilities that improve reliability, protect or benefit consumers and are consistent with the public interest, the summary said.
Reflecting FERC’s existing practice, a project’s cost would be paid for only by those who benefit from it, according to the summary. “Customers receiving no benefit or benefits that are trivial in relation to the costs shall not be made to pay,” the summary said.
The bill also changes FERC’s existing backstop siting authority for interstate electric transmission lines. It eliminates the authority of the Secretary of Energy to designate a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor and establishes a process that allows individual applicants to propose national-interest projects, according to the summary. It allows FERC to approve compensation to communities hosting transmission facilities, the summary said.
The bill would also:
- Require the North American Electric Reliability Corp. to conduct reliability assessments on proposed federal rules, regulations or standards that are likely to cause violations of electric reliability standards or resource adequacy requirements;
- Establish deadlines for permitting renewable energy projects on federal land;
- Set a goal of permitting 50 GW of renewable energy projects on federal land by 2030 as well as 30 GW of offshore wind;
- Require annual federal geothermal lease sales; and,
- Mandate certain “categorical exclusions” under the National Environmental Policy Act for developing transmission or distribution facilities on federal land.
Bill forms ‘framework’ for action
The bill includes key elements contained in the SPEED and Reliability Act and the BIG WIRES Act offered by Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif.
“While this is a strong first step, there is still much work to be done and I look forward to continuing my talks with House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman on our own permitting reform proposal,” Peters said in a statement Monday.
Congress should build on the bill’s “framework” to develop “comprehensive permitting reform that supports America’s transition to an economy built on advanced energy,” according to Advanced Energy United, a trade group.
“This bipartisan proposal provides a good foundation on which to build a comprehensive package of legislative reforms,” Harry Godfrey, AEU managing director, said in a press release. “Both parties agree that unreasonable timetables and fragmented planning processes are making it too difficult to invest and build.”
The bill would help improve grid reliability and U.S. economic competitiveness by speeding up transmission development, according to Americans for a Clean Energy Grid.
“FERC gaining plenary authority for transmission siting — just like it has for natural gas — would represent an important change in how the federal government permits transmission infrastructure in a timely and transparent manner,” Christina Hayes, ACEG executive director, said in a statement.
The Sierra Club urged support for the Clean Electricity and Transmission Acceleration Act, proposed by Reps. Sean Casten, D-Ill., and Mike Levin, D-Calif., which the group said offers a “real solution” to permitting issues without including “handouts” for the fossil fuel industry.
“We urge Congress to put forward real solutions to build a clean energy economy, and not pair those reforms with more attempts to pad the pockets of fossil fuel executives under the guise of reducing emissions,” Mahyar Sorour, Sierra Club Beyond Fossil Fuels policy director, said in a press release.
