From Coordination to Permitting Reform: Fueling America’s Rising Energy Needs
America’s energy future is at an inflection point – and the direction we drive our energy industry is key to determining our success or failure in meeting our country’s economic and national security imperatives. Reliability and affordability are paramount, and policy choices we make today will determine whether we are able to preserve those functions for American families and businesses, while meeting the needs of tomorrow.
Towards this end, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright tasked the National Petroleum Council (NPC) with conducting a series of studies on the steps needed to ensure we can fuel a robust economy while protecting affordability and reliability. The first two of these studies were released on Wednesday, and they validated work already being led by AGA and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners to boost reliability through improvements in gas-electric coordination while calling for badly needed permitting reforms to allow America to build. The recommendations from NPC come on the heals of several resolutions from NARUC delivering similar recommendations to remove roadblocks to infrastructure construction.
The need for new energy is widespread. Growing reliance on natural gas for power generation, combined with increasing demand for electricity, has strained pipelines in several regions of the United States. The natural gas industry stands ready to continue to deepen our coordination with the electric sector to develop the economy of the future and win the artificial intelligence race, and AGA has partnered with NARUC to administer Natural Gas Readiness Forums and regional meetings to boost coordination between the natural gas and electric sectors to help ensure preparedness for potential disaster and emergency situations. The Gas-Electric Coordination report from the NPC endorsed and furthered this work, specifically recommending the readiness forums continue and putting in place further recommendations for increased accountability to ensure adequate energy supply when it is needed most.
In 1930, we built the Empire State Building in 410 days. Today, it takes a decade and Congressional action to build far more modest projects. It is critical that Congress, the federal government and state regulators take action now to correct our badly broken permitting system and greenlight new infrastructure projects so that we can meet the needs of the future while continuing to serve American families affordably, reliably and safely.
Permitting reform is essential to meet rising demand while safeguarding affordability and reliability for American families and businesses. Significant delays in permitting and environmental reviews, along with years of litigation meant to tie projects up in court indefinitely, increases costs substantially for critical infrastructure projects, risks deterring investors and delays expansion of energy infrastructure to meet the needs of new customers. America deserves a better permitting system, and AGA is doing our part to get us there.