Sec. Wright Agrees: “Absolutely” Electric Transmission Lines Should Get Parity with Natural Gas

Washington, D.C. - Today, during an Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing on the Department of Energy's (DOE) budget, DOE Secretary Chris Wright agreed that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should give electric transmission lines the same fast-track, one-stop-shop permitting process, that natural gas pipelines and Liquid Natural Gas export facilities currently get.

Large, high-voltage, interregional transmission lines are crucial for moving energy from all sources, including clean energy from renewables and nuclear, from where it is produced to where it is needed. Currently, the process to permit and build transmission lines requires reviews by states, localities, multiple federal agencies and can take more than two decades to complete. In comparison, natural gas pipelines go through one unified federal review at FERC and can be completed significantly faster as compared to transmission.

During the hearing, Representative Peters asked Secretary Wright, "Since 2005, FERC has had the authority to act as the sole permitting agency for large multi-state transmission lines that your department deems to be in the national interest, but the federal government has not once used this authority due to litigation and endless bureaucracy regarding DOE's role in the process. That's Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden, never use the authority. The backstop permitting authority for transmission is also a fraction of the authority that FERC has long had over natural gas pipelines and LNG, which always get their one-stop permitting shop at FERC. So, my question is, would you support bipartisan efforts in Congress to streamline this permit authority for large transmission lines, including would you be supportive of establishing permitting parity at FERC between natural gas and transmission?

Secretary Wright responded, "Absolutely. The United States needs to build more energy infrastructure of all kinds and certainly including transmission lines."

Watch Rep. Peters' full question line here.

Background:

SPEED & Reliability Act
Representative Peters' and Senator Hickenlooper's SPEED and Reliability Act would accelerate the siting and permitting of interregional transmission lines by:

• Allowing individual transmission lines to be deemed as "national interest high-impact transmission facilities."

• Requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to conduct a single environmental review for these transmission lines, rather than requiring duplicative reviews by FERC and the Department of Energy.

FASTER Act:

Representative Peters' FASTER Act will strengthen FERC's permitting authorities by designating it as the lead agency for large, interstate transmission lines and by:

• Giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) siting authority and establishes it as the lead agency to coordinate state, local, and federal authorizations for National Interest Electric Transmission Facilities, defined as 345 kV or 750 MW, crosses two states, or a designation from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that the route proposed by a developer is consistent with the purpose of a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor.

• Incentivizing communities and project sponsors to negotiate an enforceable Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) and ensures greater community engagement by developing clear protocols to help communities negotiate a CBA.

BIG WIRES Act
Representative Peters' and Senator Hickenlooper's BIG Wires Act would update the country's patchwork energy transmission system by:

• Coordinating the construction of an interregional transmission system.

• Establishing minimum-transfer requirements to move large amounts of energy from one U.S. grid region to another.

###