New DOE Actions on Transmission Permitting

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new transmission permitting rule today. Some of the changes they announced appear to stem from the permitting reforms that were passed as part of the debt ceiling deal last year:

For example, when multiple federal agencies are involved in the permitting of an energy project, it would have them designate a lead agency, and all agencies would work together on a single environmental review document rather than each agency creating duplicative work.

The DOE rule does both of those things. It establishes the DOE as the lead agency that will coordinate with other federal agencies on transmission projects on federal lands, and all of those agencies will work on a single environmental document. 

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Permitting of these transmission projects averages about 4 years, and the rule would cut this in half by setting a 2-year timeline. It also requires a comprehensive public participation plan and encourages early community engagement, which is an important aspect that CCL has advocated for in the permitting reform process. We want to make sure communities can make their voices heard in the permitting of projects that will directly affect them, which will also avoid lawsuits and thus shorten project timelines.

So it's a really good rule, but it's limited to transmission projects on federal lands, which are about one-quarter of all transmission line miles. That means we still need Congressional permitting reform to streamline other transmission project permitting, as well as other kinds of clean energy projects.

The DOE also announced $331 million in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill to to support Idaho-to-Nevada transmission line, so that's nice to see too 🤓

3 Replies
Rob Johnson
74 Posts

@Dana Nuccitelli
Administrative action could streamline permitting on any lands, right ?

Hi @Rob Johnson. The federal government only has jurisdiction over the permitting of some projects, most notably those on federal lands. Many others are under the jurisdiction of state and local governments. There are some potential exceptions, for example if the DOE and FERC designate a transmission corridor of national interest, which is something they're assessing right now but to date have never yet done. And in theory some provisions could be included in a permitting reform package to allow that sort of thing to happen more frequently, but it doesn't seem to have bipartisan support.

Mark Rohde
35 Posts

@Dana Nuccitelli This was a massive step toward getting the grid that we need. However, the much more significant challenge is to get permitting done on lands that are NOT owned by the federal government. Unfortunately, it is extremely challenging to get states, private land owners, utilities, and tribes on the same page.  
 

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