Top permitting-reform senators meeting as talks thaw: API chief

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito and ranking Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse are meeting to discuss reforming the federal energy permitting process, American Petroleum Institute president Mike Sommers told CNBC.

“We have both the Republican in the United States Senate … Shelley Moore Capito, and the Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, who [are] responsible for permitting reform, finally meeting again to discuss how we get this done this year,” Sommers told CNBC.

A person familiar with the negotiations, granted anonymity to discuss the details, said they “will be talking frequently this week about permitting since negotiations are back on,” but was unaware of any designated meeting time. The person noted committee staff are negotiating regularly.

Capito, R-W.V., and Whitehouse, D-R.I., talking regularly comes after Democrats publicly announced a thaw in permitting talks. Democrats walked away from talks last year after the Trump administration ordered work to stop on a slew of fully permitted offshore wind projects, but announced they would resume talks last week after “recent developments [that] are indicative of a positive direction from the Trump administration.”

Permitting reform has been a long-running saga on Capitol Hill. Republicans have long wanted to speed up permitting for building energy infrastructure and blunt environmental safeguard laws. Democrats want to make it easier for renewable energy projects to get built out. A bipartisan compromise fell apart at the end of the last Congress.

Capito, through a spokesperson, declined to comment. Whitehouse did not respond to a request for comment.

The term “permitting reform” has become a catchall phrase for a bevy of bills and proposals that would cut red tape to speed the building of energy infrastructure. Any deal would likely include changes to longstanding environmental laws, along with expedited approvals for both oil and gas and renewables.

The tech industry, meanwhile, wants permitting reform to accelerate the buildout of energy that feeds power-hungry data centers. And with energy costs skyrocketing due to strain from data centers, building more energy capacity in the U.S. has become a key priority for lawmakers hoping to tackle affordability.

The House last year passed a permitting bill called the SPEED Act to blunt the National Environmental Policy Act. The Senate is negotiating separately from the House.

Sommers said the restarted talks are indicative of a potential breakthrough on permitting this year.

“We actually have a lot of confidence that we can get it done this year, because I believe it is a political imperative for politicians to finally get this done because energy prices are rising, and the only thing that they can do to get prices down again is to get permitting right in this country,” he said. “I actually think they’re very close to a deal.”