The full episode is available at: https://www.electricperspectives.com/podcast

Permitting Reform

Chairman Westerman and Rep. Peters discussed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act and broader efforts to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The bills aim to reduce permitting delays for major infrastructure and energy projects while maintaining environmental standards.

Chairman Westerman said permitting delays affect a wide range of sectors:

“It takes a long time to build things here in America. We have things that we need to build in the energy sector, but also in transportation and infrastructure. Permitting affects so many different parts of our lives. And, to most people, it's out of sight and out of mind—but it adds cost to things...We need to put common sense back into the equation and let America build again.”

Rep. Peters said action is needed this year:

“This is something that has to happen this year. And we got all the right players in place. We've got good products in the pipeline. And I heard all these same statistics about how delays cost people money and every election I've seen has been about affordability. I think that's what people are concerned about. We need to get this done.”

Chairman Westerman agreed:

“I wish I had a crystal ball. A reporter asked me the other day if I thought the SPEED Act could ride on the Surface Transportation Bill, which is one of the rumors out there. I said, I don't know, maybe the Surface Transportation Bill could ride on the SPEED Act, because I've actually got more confidence in the SPEED Act passing than the Surface Transportation Bill right now. The good thing is there's so much interest in it. People are coming to Washington to talk to their members of Congress like I've never seen before on this issue.”

Maloney noted the scale of the challenge:

“When it takes you longer than a decade to build a transmission line or a generation facility, that's just unacceptable.”

Energy Growth, Data Centers, and Grid Reliability

The discussion also focused on the role of data centers in supporting grid investment and lowering costs. Chairman Westerman said large-load customers can strengthen the system for all customers:

“What people miss is that if you're an electric company, a data center is your ideal customer. It's a big, consistent, heavy load that makes your generating equipment operate at a higher utilization rate, which means you can produce electricity at a lower cost for commercial and residential and industrial consumers. And the data center can actually be a huge benefit to your grid operation and to your reliability and cost structure.”

“I hope all the other states keep saying we don't want data centers and they all come to Arkansas and we're able to take advantage of the benefits of having them there.”

Rep. Peters also discussed the benefits for customers:

“There's a remarkable consensus that data centers should pay for their costs and assume their risk, because you don't want stranded assets and so forth. They have a lot of money that they're willing to invest. They're talking about how they can actually enhance the grid around a community, because it's in their interest to have that kind of reliability.”

Wildfire Risk and Forest Management

The lawmakers also discussed wildfire mitigation and forest management reform. Rep. Peters said federal participation is critical:

“The benefit to my constituents of the Fix Our Forests Act, in addition to the general environmental benefits of preserving habitat in the forest, is that the federal government will be doing its part. It will be paying its share and won't be in the way of fixing the forests in California that are costing so much on our utility bill.”

Read more excerpts from the interview or listen to the full interview here.

About Electric Perspectives

Electric Perspectives is a podcast from the Edison Electric Institute featuring conversations with policymakers and industry leaders on the most pressing issues facing the energy sector. Listen to more episodes at electricperspectives.com/podcast .