Permitting reform is back. But can Congress actually pass it this time?

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But there are signs of new momentum at a time when rising energy prices and growing electricity demand are turning energy affordability into a major political issue ahead of the midterm elections. Still, I want to be clear with you, we've seen this story before. Both parties and much of the US energy industry say yes, we need permitting reform because it would make it easier and quicker to build and improve energy projects. But lawmakers have repeatedly tried and failed to pass major legislation since 2022, even though there's interest from pretty much everyone. So today, I chat with Kelsey about whether permitting reform is really back on the table, what a potential deal could look like and the obstacles ahead. It's Wednesday, March 11th. All right, Kelsey Breuger, welcome to the Politico Energy Podcast. Appreciate your time. Thanks for having me. You're on the scene on the hill, which we appreciate we're getting the news directly from the source. So the biggest thing I got from your recent reporting is that one permitting reform is kind of back, which we'll get into and to that the White House has actually directly entered the negotiations in a more real kind of serious way. So two developments. Why were we even in this position in the first place? Why were negotiations stalled out? Yeah, so just to take us back a little bit, permitting reform has been sort of this, has become this like catch all buzzword on Capitol Hill, right? But it's really been something that's been around for a long time. It's long been a Republican priority. More recently, we've seen Democrats get interested in speeding up projects, maybe speeding up environmental reviews for clean energy interested in building out the electric grid to bring on clean energy that after the 2022 inflation reduction act climate law that was intended to spur clean energy throughout the country. So for years, we've had these negotiations. They have always like inched closer, but have always never really been within striking distance, right? And so this is sort of the third time at it. And kind of the biggest thing that happened most recently was we had this momentum in the House late last year, the speed act from House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman passed the House. But as part of that passage, sort of immediately after that, what we saw was the interior department issue this sort of stop work order and halted the construction of five offshore wind projects that were nearly complete. It was sort of to appease House conservatives and anti-offshore wind advocates in the House. So that really frustrated Democrats and Democrats said, look, like looked at the Trump administration and thought that their actions were illegal and they couldn't trust them to strike any kind of a deal that would be in legislative text. In their words, if the Trump administration wasn't going to follow the law anyway. So immediately after there was this momentum in December, this interior stop work order came down and then you had the lead negotiators in the Senate, Sheldon White House and Martin Heinrich issued a statement that they were going to pause negotiations. People have been continuing to talk informally since then, but what we saw last week was them officially saying we are going to lift this pause. Yeah, why is that? Why is, you know, as you reported the White House now coming into the fold in this more serious way? And why are Democrats coming back to the table now? What changed kind of for both? Right. So what we saw in recent weeks was interior had started moving some permits for like large-scale solar projects out west. So and on shore wind. And so some of Democrats kind of looked at that and they said, okay, there's some movement. Maybe there's some goodwill on the part of the Trump administration to sort of end what they saw as a clean energy blockade. You know, you talk to people who are close to the administration and close to the decisions. And they've said that wasn't exactly this has nothing to do with the permitting discussions. And actually that interior was reviewing everything that was on its desk at the beginning of a new administration. They review all kinds of permits. And so this was just sort of like the natural order of things and these are moving ahead. So, you know, Democrats in their statement, when last week they said, we're going to lift this like formal pause. They said, okay, but you know, barring any further mischief was the actual quote. So it's sort of it's sort of TBD exactly how this is going to unfold. Okay. So at minimum though, the pause is lifted. We'll see for how long what would the broad framework of this deal kind of look like? Do you have a sense of that? And what is the timeline we're talking about? Because I know, I mean, with the midterms getting some legislation done, I mean, I feel like the clock is running here a bit. Right. Right. And that was also kind of why we've seen the White House engage a little bit more on this topic. Right. They're looking at the midterms and they're saying, oh, this, you know, there's lots of discussion about affordability, right? There's lots of discussion about energy prices. So I think both sides are saying, oh, maybe maybe a permitting reform legislation in Congress is something that we could say, okay, look, look at what we've been able to achieve. So so it's possible in theory that a deal could could come together. I think the broad outline of what a deal could look like. I think what the White House would really want because the White House a lot of people I think were thinking, well, you know, the administration has all the power. They can they don't they don't need a deal in Congress. They can do what they want administratively. And I think they've used some of those tools, but the they're kind of running out of tools. And so a legislative fix would be something that would be kind of like the next step. So from the administration's perspective, they care about judicial review. They care about kind of limiting who can challenge projects in court and kind of the time frame the statute of limitations surrounding that. Right. I think Democrats really care about building out transmission still and making sure that interconnection piece is there. You know, new, of course, in this administration and in this round of talks is Democrats saying we really need project certainty language. Right. Really, we really need to be able to say, okay, if a project has been permitted, if these offshore wind from projects have been permitted, you know, a future administration can't just come in and avoid that, right? So that's the language they're trying to work out right now. That's that's difficult, right? Because there's easy there's there's loopholes in in project certainty language. And so we haven't we haven't actually seen, you know, what does that language look like at this point? But yeah, I think I think there's a lot of questions about other stuff that could be in the mix. So, you know, I think what a deal could look like is still remains to be seen. This could really go in a lot of different directions. Yeah, I guess to close. I mean, I was going to ask what are the challenges that lay ahead for negotiations? Obviously, it sounds like one is like sorting through the actual details and like making sure people are kind of aligned here. But, you know, I hate to kind of be a pessimist, but historically, as you mentioned at the top, this they've tried this before with the similar, you know, kind of broad framework that you kind of laid out and then negotiations failed. So what are the obstacles ahead and kind of what's what are you watching out for? Sure, I mean, timing is always an obstacle, right? We're in March and I don't think people, you know, when I spoke to Senator Capito, chair of the Environment Public Works Committee, you know, she wasn't expecting that there to be a big package on the floor. She didn't roll that out. But if you think about a deal this big and complicated, you could see, you know, I don't know if there's the four-time exists for that and also like, you know, So then you're getting a lot of different fights over a lot of different pieces when this is all out in public and on the floor and that kind of kind of fashion. So a lot of people are talking about, you know, this may be hitching a ride on another legislative vehicle. Maybe that's the highway bill, though there are questions about whether that is going to be able to move this year. There's a lot of discussion about, okay, potentially the NDA, the National Defense Policy Bill that is a must pass bill at the end of the year. That could be something that in a lame duck, you know, maybe there's a deal and four corners, meaning leadership in both houses come together and come up with an agreement. But realistically, I think the Trump administration could, there could take another action that could frustrate Democrats. And so they might pause the negotiations again, right? So that's potentially another challenge. The mischief. The mischief, exactly. All right. Well, a lot to watch out for maybe permitting fourth times the charm we shall see. Kelsey Berger, thanks for joining the show. Thanks so much for having me. Also I've got two quick updates for you before you go. The Energy Information Administration released its monthly report yesterday and it's sharply raising its forecast for oil and gasoline prices for 2026 as the war in the Middle East disrupts global energy markets. The EIA now projects that the global benchmark Brent oil price will average $79 of barrel this year, which is up from $58 of barrel in its last report in February. In other news, a new report from Wood McKenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association says that US Solar capacity is now expected to nearly triple by 2036. That's despite the rollback of solar-related tax credits and funding cuts by the Trump Administration. All right, that's it for Politico Energy. For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to our free newsletter, Power Swage, and subscribe to Politico Pro to read our Morning Energy Newsletter. Stuff into Dorvik is the show's video producer. I'm the show's executive producer and co-host. Debra Khan, Matt Daly, and Saisyneski are the editors of the show. Our theme music was made by Pran Bandi. Please subscribe to Politico's YouTube page if you like our content and follow our show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Neuron Molleikle and we'll see you back here on Friday. A nation isn't just built. It's powered by people like us. We're planning to invest about $10.5 billion in American energy projects to help build the future right here at home. Learn more at chevron.com/america.