The Senate permitting deal would require data centers to pay for the added electricity and transmission costs they use, while limiting legal challenges to major energy and infrastructure projects. Senators from both parties announced the agreement Wednesday, saying faster reviews could help meet rising electricity demand, including the needs of expanding artificial intelligence data centers.
Who Pays for Power
The bill would keep data centers from shifting the cost of added electricity use and necessary grid upgrades onto families or businesses. Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said it would mean “more energy on the grid, more good-paying jobs, and lower electricity costs for families and businesses.” He said data centers should pay their “fair share” for grid upgrades, rather than leave American families with the bill.
The agreement also seeks to shorten reviews for major energy projects, which can face delays lasting years. Supporters say those delays hinder projects as demand for electricity and other energy rises. Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the legislation would make it “faster and more efficient and easier to build infrastructure projects” while maintaining environmental protections.
Capito spoke at a Capitol news conference alongside Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. The four senators lead the chamber’s energy and environment panels. Capito called the agreement “a major step.” She said, “The American people sent us here to do big things. This is a big thing. It’s monumental and it’s legacy-setting.”
Permits and Public Review
The bill would limit legal challenges under the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to consider potential environmental impacts before they approve projects. It would also restrict challenges under the National Historic Preservation Act, which protects Native American cultural treasures and other important artifacts.
The measure would make it easier to site interstate transmission lines and strengthen the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority to review major projects while state reviews proceed. Capito said the existing system had been filled with “delays, expenses, red tape, uncertainty.” Some projects that should finish more quickly, she said, take decades.
Brad Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation, said the deal “appears to adopt a fossil fuel industry wish-list.” He said it could roll back clean water and endangered species protections, limit judicial review, and curtail the Environmental Protection Agency’s and states’ authority to consider project impacts. Campbell also criticized the timing and process, saying the pact and schedule preclude public input or amendment before the midterm elections.
Federal Power and the Vote
The bill’s treatment of renewable energy remains unsettled. Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the environment panel, said Democrats wanted clarity on how the bill would prevent President Donald Trump’s administration from blocking wind and solar projects. Whitehouse and Heinrich condemned what they called Trump’s “reckless and vindictive assault on wind energy.”
The administration suspended five offshore wind projects in December, citing unspecified national security concerns. Federal judges later allowed the projects to move forward. A federal judge also struck down Trump’s executive order blocking wind projects early in his second term.
Trump had recently offered to ease his administration’s hold on renewable energy projects, partly to encourage Democrats to support permitting legislation. Whitehouse called the proposal reasonable, but said the broader issue remained “unresolved.”
The Senate won’t vote until after the midterm elections. Lee said he was confident the bill would pass during a lame-duck session in November, citing bipartisan support and encouragement from business and environmental groups. The White House said the bill would lower energy and housing costs, drive infrastructure investment and create jobs.