Senate reaches deal to speed energy project permitting

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan Senate agreement would accelerate approvals for energy and infrastructure projects and require data centers to cover associated transmission costs, but a vote will wait until after the midterm elections.

Senators announced the deal Wednesday as growing energy demand, fueled in part by expanding AI data centers, adds urgency to efforts to shorten permitting reviews that can take years. The legislation would restrict certain legal challenges and ease the approval process for interstate transmission lines.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, described the legislation as "a major step toward making it faster and more efficient and easier to build infrastructure projects" while preserving important environmental protections.

"The American people sent us here to do big things. This is a big thing. It's monumental and it's legacy-setting", Capito said at a Capitol news conference.

She appeared alongside Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. Together, the four lead the Senate's energy and environment panels.

Data centers would cover transmission costs

The proposal would require data centers to pay all associated transmission costs rather than pass those expenses to families or businesses.

Heinrich, the top Democrat on the energy committee, said the bill "will mean more energy on the grid, more good-paying jobs, and lower electricity costs for families and businesses. And as data centers drive demand for more power, it will ensure they pay their fair share of the grid upgrades they require – not leave that bill to American families."

The legislation also would strengthen the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authority to review major projects alongside state reviews, helping projects move more quickly through permitting.

Legal challenges under the National Environmental Policy Act would be limited. That law requires federal agencies to examine a project's potential environmental effects before approval. The bill would also restrict challenges under the National Historic Preservation Act, which protects Native American cultural treasures and other important artifacts.

Environmental objections and unresolved wind dispute

The agreement drew criticism from Brad Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation, who said it "appears to adopt a fossil fuel industry wish-list."

Campbell said the proposal could weaken clean water and endangered species protections, restrict judicial review, and reduce the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency and states to assess energy projects' impacts.

"Striking this deal in the waning days of this Congress, in a pact and on a schedule that preclude public input or amendment, before midterm elections that can only improve the prospects for a more balanced approach, is indefensible", Campbell said in a statement.

Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the environment panel, expressed hope for the legislation but said Democrats still wanted clarity about how it would prevent President Donald Trump's administration from blocking wind and solar projects.

He and Heinrich have criticized what they call Trump's "reckless and vindictive assault on wind energy", including repeated efforts to stop large-scale offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast.

The administration suspended five offshore wind projects in December, citing unspecified national security concerns. Those projects subsequently proceeded after intervention by federal judges. A federal judge also struck down Trump's executive order blocking wind energy projects early in his second term.

Trump recently offered to ease the administration's hold on renewable energy projects, partly to encourage Democrats to support a permitting agreement. Whitehouse called that proposal reasonable, but said the broader issue remained "unresolved."

Vote expected after the elections

The deal comes amid uncertainty over midterm elections that could change partisan control of both chambers. Despite agreement across party lines on the need for new energy projects, senators will not vote on the legislation until after the elections.

Lee, who chairs the energy committee, said he was confident the bill would pass during a lame-duck session in November, pointing to bipartisan backing and encouragement from business and environmental groups.

The White House welcomed the agreement, saying in a statement that it would "deliver transformative policies to lower Americans' energy and housing costs, drive new construction and investment in American infrastructure, and create American jobs."

Capito said she believed the remaining obstacles could be resolved. Both parties recognize that for far too long, "America has had a permitting system filled with delays, expenses, red tape, uncertainty,'' she said. "Too long, too expensive. And we've seen projects that should be finished more quickly (take) decades" to complete.

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