Industry Insiders Urge Congress For Deregulation As Midterm Deadline Looms

Energy companies are sounding the alarm over stagnating deregulatory policy as lawmakers turn to midterm election campaigns and vital infrastructure remains unbuilt.

Several energy industry executives told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Congress must address the “urgent” need to enact permitting reform because the U.S. energy landscape has changed while the permitting process has remained largely unchanged. After years of little change, U.S. energy demand is growing, even as industry executives told DCNF that red tape and litigation risks bog down construction projects.

“As a small manufacturer in America’s heartland, Husco has greatly appreciated the tireless work of Congress and the Trump administration to preserve and expand pro-growth tax policies,” Austin Ramirez, president and CEO of Husco, an auto parts manufacturer, told DCNF. “To take full advantage of the historic investments in the tax law passed this year, Congress must act urgently to enact common-sense reforms that enable American manufacturers of all sizes to expand their businesses, modernize their infrastructure, consolidate supply chains, create jobs, and advance American energy dominance. Now is the time to seize the opportunity and end the endless litigation that drives up costs.” (RELATED: Congress Close to Authorizing Bipartisan Reform. Radical Republicans Say It Threatens Trump’s Agenda.)

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a board displaying regulations needed to build infrastructure projects while speaking at a White House event promoting the administration’s efforts to reduce federal regulations December 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee via Getty Images)

Congress is advancing some licensing reform legislation, including the SPEED Act and the PERMIT Act. While the energy sector generally supports these deregulatory measures, some industry executives and experts told DCNF that more comprehensive reform is needed to free up America’s energy.

In the wake of electrification, data center proliferation and land-based manufacturing driving up demand for electricity, as well as aging energy infrastructure and harsh mandates forcing early retirement of reliable power, industry insiders say the U.S. energy sector urgently needs effective permitting reform to help avoid strain on the grid.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, told DCNF that she was “concerned” that Congress would not accomplish enough permitting reforms before the midterms, although “sometimes Congress surprises me.”

“This is a nonpartisan issue,” Furchtgott-Roth told DCNF. “Everyone wants to do it, but the Democrats want to do it to have more wind and solar power, and the Republicans want to do it to have more oil and natural gas.”

Affordability is expected to become a major issue in the midterm elections, after Democrats scored several victories in New York, Virginia and New Jersey after campaigning on the cost of living. Some prominent Democratic and Republican officials say their preferred energy resources are the most affordable. Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse claimed in a Thursday X article that renewable energy would lower costs for consumers. Many Republican leaders argue, conversely, that fossil fuels are a particularly reliable and affordable resource.

Permitting reform is critical to “affordability, reliability, national security and technology development,” according to TC Energy Vice President of External Relations Alex Oehler. “We have a huge demand for energy, [and] …this is an urgent question.

Oehler argued that while America faces pressing energy infrastructure challenges, they are not insurmountable.

“One of the great things is we feel like we have the solutions, and we’re fortunate to live in this country with abundant energy resources,” Oehler told DCNF. “We have many infrastructure developers who are very experienced in designing and building infrastructure in a way that protects the environment.”

Although some environmental regulations like the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) started with good intentions, they “have become longer and more complex, as well as the time it takes to implement them,” according to Oehler.

Oehler and John Dabbar, executive director of the National Petroleum Council, noted the importance of their organization’s joint report, which highlights the “urgent” need for permitting reform and recommends that Congress clarify environmental review laws.

The report, titled “Bottleneck to Breakthrough: A Permitting Blueprint to Build,” advises Congress to “explore and adopt a new permitting framework that moves qualified infrastructure activities from project-specific reviews and cumbersome processes to standardized and timely approvals.”

Oehler added that “we need clarity in the permitting process, and that’s one of the things the report tried to highlight,” emphasizing that energy companies need predictable timelines for permitting.

“People in both parties recognize the need to build more energy infrastructure to help provide these solutions to the American people,” Oehler said. “The process has become undisciplined and we need to fix it. »

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