With the federal government back open, Congress has an opportunity to tackle some of the most urgent challenges facing the nation. At the top of that list: ensuring America can build the energy infrastructure needed to fuel our growing economy and power innovation.
As policymakers consider permitting reform in the weeks ahead, it’s worth remembering how a dependable energy grid unleashed American prosperity and why permitting reform is so essential. For more than a century, there has been one constant behind our nation’s greatest achievements: reliable, affordable electricity — the kind delivered by the member companies of the Edison Electric Institute, the trade association that represents America’s electric power industry.
Our nation’s investor-owned electric companies have long served as the backbone of American economic and national security. We powered the factories, shipyards, and steel mills that propelled America to victory in World War II. We kept the lights on in the laboratories and fueled the computers that helped put American astronauts on the moon. And we helped power the rise of the internet and, with it, the modern age.
We have been able to deliver because government, labor, and local communities worked with us to build the infrastructure America needed when it needed it most. Now, antiquated permitting processes and protracted court battles too often stand in the way.
This means that projects are stopped or years are added to deployment timelines, tying up billions of dollars in investment each year and driving project costs up by nearly 20%. The result is higher prices for customers nationwide, weaker job creation, and slower economic growth.
Right now, demand is rising, driven by an AI revolution that is transforming the way we live and work. Fueled by American ingenuity and powered by data centers, this emerging sector has the potential to reshape our economy — and the world’s. Our global competitors know this. Our adversaries are investing aggressively in the generation, transmission, and pipelines that are the linchpins to providing more energy to support innovation, hoping the United States will stumble in the AI race. If the infrastructure needed to power this new era isn’t built quickly, America risks falling behind.
That is why Congress must streamline outdated federal permitting processes and ensure that endless litigation is no longer used to stall progress. With the right reforms in place, America’s electric companies can do what we have always done: ensure America is home to the businesses, technologies, and jobs of tomorrow.
Our industry is ready to meet this challenge. Last year alone, America’s electric companies invested a record $178 billion to make the grid smarter, stronger, more dynamic, and more secure. And we’re projected to invest more than $1 trillion between 2025 and 2029 to help meet unprecedented demand growth and drive innovation. Clearing permitting roadblocks and streamlining any associated litigation will enable electric companies to deploy these investments more quickly and cost-effectively, creating jobs and new economic opportunities in communities across the country.
In 2024, we added more than 52 gigawatts of new generation capacity to the grid, which is enough to power more than 39 million homes. Today, more than 97 GW of new generation is under construction, with nearly 530 GW of new generation proposed to come online in the years ahead. Modernizing permitting will ensure new sources of electricity reach customers sooner and at lower costs — all while supporting millions of good-paying jobs and solidifying America’s energy dominance for generations to come.
Our broken permitting system far too frequently turns ambitious, job-creating projects into decades-long ordeals. Take, for example, the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line. It was approved in 2011 but took 13 years to complete due to permitting delays and lawsuits. This is not an isolated example. Rather, it’s a nationwide pattern that adds billions of dollars in unnecessary costs annually and cannot be allowed to continue.
While broader debates over transmission policy continue to evolve, ensuring that critical infrastructure is sited and permitted efficiently is essential to meeting the nation’s growing energy needs. That means being laser-focused on streamlining regulatory processes that apply to all critical infrastructure. This is necessary to ensure transmission, distribution, and generation can all be sited and permitted efficiently. Without practical reform, delays will continue to happen, raising costs for customers and slowing our nation’s progress.
Permitting reform is simply a no-brainer for families and businesses already worried about rising costs. By cutting delays and allowing projects to be built faster, pro-growth permitting policies mean more electrons on the grid — easing cost pressures and delivering relief to customers at a time when affordability is top of mind.
TRUMP SAYS HE’S ‘WORKING TO MAKE THINGS LESS EXPENSIVE’
Backed by capital investments that outpace every other sector of the economy, our industry continues to shape the nation and drive America forward. These investments have helped to make the American economy the envy of the world and are laying the foundation for a golden age of prosperity. But without greater certainty around litigation and meaningful siting and permitting reform, our industry’s planned investments risk being trapped in red tape, which imposes additional costs on customers.
The stakes are too high to stand still. As a new era of competitiveness rapidly takes shape, Congress — as well as state and local governments — must act quickly to drive American energy dominance and ensure our nation continues to lead the world in innovation.
Drew Maloney is president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. EEI’s member companies provide safe, reliable electricity for nearly 250 million Americans and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.