Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich (N.M.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) on Monday pitched their bipartisan permitting reform bill as a way to deliver results for Americans who want Congress to make their lives more affordable and hold data centers accountable for their costs.
Their comments came ahead of a major test of the bill’s support scheduled for this evening, when the Senate will vote on a procedural measure that determines whether it advances to the floor for chamber-wide debate. Heinrich and Whitehouse, two of the main negotiators of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA, said they expect to have the votes to secure its passage after making some changes to the bill. The permitting bill needs 60 votes to proceed.
The changes helped BAJAA win some newfound support among utilities and labor unions who were on the fence, adding to the long list of clean energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, and more moderate climate groups who were already on board. But many environmental advocates and Tribal nations remain opposed.
“Americans sent a resounding message about their priorities,” Heinrich said during a press conference, referencing the midterm elections marked by a blue wave of wins at the state and federal levels. “They want Congress focused on making their lives more affordable, and that’s precisely what this permitting reform bill will do.”
Heinrich cited estimates by the Brattle Group that BAAJA would force data centers to pay $35 billion more for energy infrastructure over a decade compared with current law, due to provisions that effectively double-charge the industry for using the grid. The Rhodium Group also forecasted that average annual household electricity bills would be $50 to $78 lower in 2040 if BAAJA were enacted, while planet-warming pollution from the power sector would drop by between 1% and 18% — mainly depending on clean energy’s price competitiveness with gas.
Whitehouse is optimistic that clean energy will win the market, even as President Donald Trump advances policies that favor fossil fuels, because the vast majority of new generation applying to connect to the grid is solar, wind, and batteries. He also argued that the so-called “permit certainty” provisions of BAAJA — and, separately, assurances from the Trump administration — would lift the current blockade of clean energy projects on federal lands, including by ending federal buyouts of offshore wind leases.
“We’ve been discussing with the administration that there needs to be an end to the deliberate mischief against clean energy, and we have some real assurances,” Whitehouse said, adding that he expects the Department of the Interior to “have something to say” after today’s vote. “We have been clearly told that the existing backup at the Department of Defense of as many as 250 projects are subject to these permit certainty provisions, and must begin to move.”
Neither the Department of the Interior nor the Pentagon responded to questions from Latitude Media by the time of publication.
Trump on Sunday endorsed BAAJA on Truth Social, stating that the bill will ensure the U.S. can quickly build pipelines, mines, and power plants and lower energy costs for Americans. He also said it codifies the White House’s ratepayer protection pledge, ensuring data centers pay for their own electricity and invest in their local communities.
Green groups dig in on fossil concerns
The potential for the Senate permitting bill to expedite new oil and gas infrastructure, including LNG export terminals, combined with provisions that limit the ability of states and courts to block those kinds of projects has led many environmental groups to oppose BAAJA. That includes the Natural Resources Defense Council, which for the first time on Sunday announced its opposition despite the changes senators announced over the weekend.
NRDC, which is suing the Trump administration over a wide range of its climate and environmental rollbacks and restrictions on clean energy development, said recent changes to BAAJA’s project certainty section don’t sufficiently alleviate concerns that the bill will make it harder for groups like NRDC to challenge unlawfully issued permits. That’s despite the fact that the new text explicitly allows federal agencies to revoke or alter permits if ordered by a court. NRDC also cited provisions that limit a courts’ ability to halt construction of projects, regardless of whether an environmental review is deemed deficient.
Manish Bapna, president and CEO of NRDC, said the group will keep working with Congress on changes to the bill. The League of Conservation Voters took a similar stance.
Heinrich on Monday acknowledged that the bill isn’t perfect, but said that senators had to make compromises to secure bipartisan support. He added that advocacy groups have historically relied on litigation to stop bad projects, but the existing permitting system slows down good projects, too.
“Changing that is hard,” Heinrich said. “It means organizations are going to have to reevaluate the best way to move the clean energy transition forward. In my view, if we can create an open, competitive playing field, clean, cheap energy wins the marketplace.”
Utilities sign on
Senators’ revisions to BAAJA’s transmission policy were enough to win the endorsement of EEI, which represents investor-owned utilities. That is significant because the bill still contains provisions that the industry has historically opposed, including granting the federal government greater authority and oversight of utilities’ plans to build transmission lines. EEI has withheld support for previous attempts at permitting reform and some of its members, including Duke Energy and Southern Company, individually lobbied against them.
EEI president and CEO Drew Maloney, in a letter to congressional leaders, said the group worked daily with the White House and Congress on changes to local transmission planning and oversight and “duplicative” planning requirements.
For example, the new BAAJA text clarifies that state energy regulators can refer a utility’s transmission planning to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an investigation if it suspects a utility is building inefficient and costly local projects that inflate costs for ratepayers. FERC could also reject a state’s request to investigate.
Maloney added that EEI would work with FERC and state regulators to implement the law.
“Our priority will be to ensure that new transmission requirements strengthen the grid, protect reliability, shield existing customers from costs that should be paid by data centers, build on the considerable expertise of grid planners and state and local leaders, and support regulatory certainty so that we can continue to build for the future,” he said.
EEI’s endorsement may help shore up support among some House Republicans, particularly those representing districts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina who tend to align with investor-owned utilities in those states.
But it’s unclear whether BAAJA could pass the House during the lame duck period, especially because of Democrats’ resounding victory in the midterm elections. That could give the party more leverage next year — though waiting risks losing the backing of the president, who’d have to sign a permitting reform bill regardless of which party has control in Congress.
A spokesperson for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the current House Minority Leader slated to become Speaker of the next year, last week told Politico that the bill falls short on issues like Tribal sovereignty and environmental reviews. That said, many of the moderates in his party are on board.
