U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, addressed the Senate this week to discuss the future of permitting reform and its impact on energy costs and job creation across the country.
In his remarks, Heinrich criticized recent actions by the Trump administration that have suspended permits for offshore wind projects and delayed over 500 clean energy initiatives. He argued these decisions are contributing to higher electricity prices and threatening efforts at permitting reform.
"Across New Mexico and the country, people are looking at their bills and asking how they are going to find the money to keep their lights on," Heinrich said. "The answer is that Americans need more affordable energy, more electrons on the grid, not less, and they need it now."
Heinrich highlighted a major clean energy project in New Mexico—a 3.5 gigawatt wind farm with a 550-mile transmission line—that took 17 years to receive necessary permits. He described this as an example of how lengthy permitting processes can delay economic benefits such as job creation, local spending, tax revenue, and access to new sources of power.
Heinrich stated that since President Trump took office, electricity prices have risen by an average of 13 percent within several months. He cited projections from Grid Strategies indicating that national electricity demand is expected to increase by 32 percent by 2030.
He called for changes to allow permit decisions within two or three years rather than much longer timelines. According to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, expanding transmission could save between $270 billion and $490 billion by 2050; every dollar spent could result in more than one-and-a-half dollars saved in system costs.
However, Heinrich asserted that current administrative policies are hindering progress: "Any permitting deal is going to have to guarantee that no Administration of either party can weaponize the permitting process for cheap political points. By raising electricity prices and killing American jobs, this Administration has made it crystal clear that they are not interested in permitting reform, or bringing down the price of energy," he said. "The bottom line is this: The Trump Administration needs to follow the law, they need to reverse their illegal stop work orders, and they need to start approving legally compliant energy projects. Full stop."
Heinrich also noted recent requirements imposed by the Interior Department mandating personal review of each wind and solar project on public lands as creating what he called a de facto moratorium on new projects. As a result, he said 22 gigawatts worth of solar, storage, and wind capacity—enough for two New York Cities—have been stalled.
Additionally, Heinrich mentioned that President Trump's Department of Energy canceled 26 grid reliability projects estimated to support another 35 gigawatts over five years.
"The truth is that permitting reform in this building has not been a partisan issue," Heinrich said during his speech. "It is about building big things again in the United States... but you need a permitting system that actually works."
He concluded by emphasizing certainty for developers and utilities as essential for successful reforms: "Certainty is what is required for developers, for utilities, for consumers to benefit from faster permitting."
A video recording of Senator Heinrich’s full remarks was made available following his floor speech.
