Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) speaks to the media after the weekly policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on June 21, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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American Petroleum Institute Chairman Mike Sommers told CNBC that Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito and Democratic ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse are meeting to discuss reforming the federal energy permitting process.
“Both U.S. Senate Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, the leader of reform acceptance, are finally meeting again to discuss how we can make this happen this year,” Somers told CNBC.
“As negotiations resume, we intend to discuss permits frequently this week,” said a person familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the details, but did not have a designated meeting time. The official noted that commission staff regularly negotiates.
Mr. Capito (R.W.V.) and Mr. White House (DR.I.) have been in regular consultation since the Democratic Party publicly announced the thaw of permission to discuss. Democrats withdrew from the talks last year after the Trump administration ordered a halt to work on a number of fully permitted offshore wind projects, but announced last week that they would resume talks, saying “recent developments indicate a positive direction for the Trump administration.”
Accepting reform is a long-standing narrative on Capitol Hill. Republicans have long wanted to speed up permits for building energy infrastructure and loosen environmental protection laws. Democrats want to make it easier to build renewable energy projects. A bipartisan compromise failed at the end of the last Congress.
Capito declined to comment through a spokesperson. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
The term “enabling reform” has become a catchphrase for a series of bills and proposals that would eliminate red tape to speed up the construction of energy infrastructure. Any agreement is likely to include changes to long-standing environmental laws, as well as faster approvals for both oil and gas and renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the tech industry wants reforms allowed to speed up the increase in energy supplied to power-hungry data centers. Expanding energy capacity in the U.S. has also become a key priority for lawmakers seeking to improve affordability as energy costs soar due to data center burdens.
Last year, the House passed an enabling bill called the SPEED Act to slow down the National Environmental Policy Act. The Senate negotiates separately from the House.
Somers said the restart of negotiations signals a possible breakthrough on this year’s permits.
“We’re actually very confident that we can achieve that this year, because I believe it’s a political imperative for politicians to ultimately get this done because energy prices are going up. The only thing politicians can do to bring prices down again is to get the permits in place in this country,” he said. “In fact, I think they’re very close to an agreement.”
