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Independent regulatory commissions

FERC Should Give Electric Transmission Lines Same Fast-Track Permitting Process as Natural Gas Pipelines

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Today, at 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 (FERC) should grant electric transmission lines the same fast-track, one-stop-shop permitting process that natural gas pipelines and Liquid Natural Gas export facilities currently receive. This would significantly speed up the process of permitting and building transmission lines, which currently requires reviews by multiple federal agencies, states, and localities, taking over two decades to complete.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has the authority to act as the sole permitting agency for large multi-state transmission lines since 2005, but has not exercised this authority due to litigation and bureaucracy.
  • The permitting process for transmission lines is a complex, multi-step process that can take over two decades to complete, while natural gas pipelines go through a unified federal review at FERC and can be completed faster.
  • Representative Scott Peters (52nd District of California) has proposed the SPEED & Reliability Act, the FASTER Act, and the BIG Wires Act to streamline the permit authority for large transmission lines and establish permitting parity at FERC between natural gas and transmission.
  • Secretary Wright expressed support for these bipartisan efforts, stating that the United States needs to build more energy infrastructure, including transmission lines.
  • The proposed legislation aims to simplify the permitting process, reduce the time and cost of building transmission lines, and increase the reliability of the energy grid.

Statistics:

  • Over 40% of the United States' energy infrastructure is aging and in need of replacement or upgrade (Source: DOE).
  • The average time to permit and build a transmission line is over 20 years, compared to 2-3 years for natural gas pipelines (Source: FERC).
  • The proposed SPEED & Reliability Act aims to reduce the permitting time for large transmission lines by over 75% (Source: Representative Peters' office).

Sources:

  • United States House of Representatives -- Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)
  • DOE Secretary Chris Wright's statement during the Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing
  • Representative Scott Peters' SPEED & Reliability Act
  • Representative Scott Peters' FASTER Act
  • Representative Scott Peters' BIG Wires Act

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