If and when Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Alan Armstrong’s energy permitting reform bill, his first ever bill filed in Congress, ever makes it to a vote, it will likely be well after Armstrong is gone from the office he took earlier this year to replace Markwayne Mullin.
That’s not cynicism speaking. It’s the system.
While Sen. Armstrong has the support of Sens. James Lankford, Rick Scott, Cynthia Lummis and Katie Britt, his American Energy and Mineral Infrastructure Act, designed to reform federal permitting and accelerate construction of critical energy and mineral infrastructure, will likely take months if not years to advance in the Senate and House. If ever.
There are many bumps, detours and challenges ahead for Sen. Armstrong’s bill. All the partisan support in the world might not bring success, no matter how much the Senator hopes it happens.
As Energy Central reported this week, energy permitting reform is not an over-night fix.
Read below:
| It takes around five years, on average, for generation and transmission projects to move through review—a major hold-up for a grid in desperate need of new gigawatts (and transmission lines) to meet a tsunami of demand. “The current permitting system is broken,” Xan Fishman, vice president of energy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Energy Central over email. |
| The fix? To cut through all that red tape ASAP, Congress is racing to broker a deal on federal permitting reform by its August recess. |
| Quick context: Why does the permitting process take so long? It’s “fractured across federal, state, and local authorities, and it attracts litigation that can last a long time with uncertain outcomes,” Tom Sharp, director of permitting intelligence at analytics firm Arbo, told us via email. |
| That litigation often stems from federal rules like the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act, which were intended to safeguard US ecosystems and communities. These court battles can add years to the process and even kill some projects. |
| So, what’s the progress on permitting reform now? In recent years, the House has introduced a flurry of bills. Roll the tape: |
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| What’s more likely: A deal that wraps up these goals (along with accelerating the transmission buildout) into one hefty package. Senate committees are in negotiations right now, Fishman said. This potential deal would likely also tackle President Trump’s crusade against renewable projects, he added. |
| These talks have run into some speed bumps, but the stakes are high to wrap things up by next month’s Congressional recess: “If we don’t get this done, energy costs are going to rise and chances of blackouts will increase,” Fishman said. |
