For all the noise about discharge positions and losing control of the floor, if you are looking at results, all House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) does is keep winning. Just this week, in addition to passing admittedly modest healthcare reform that reduces premiums by 11% without any new government spending, Johnson also secured passage of three meaningful pieces of energy policy reform, one of which contains broader permitting reform that will help make America a country that builds things again.
Thanks to the punitive Environmental Protection Agency regulations under former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the accelerated retirement of coal and natural gas power plants is shrinking reliable electricity supply faster than replacement capacity can come online, pushing prices higher and weakening the grid. These existing plants provide dependable, around-the-clock power that stabilizes markets during peak demand and extreme weather. When they close prematurely, grids are forced to rely more on scarce or intermittent resources, driving up wholesale prices and increasing the risk of outages. Less firm capacity means tighter margins, higher costs for consumers, and a power system that is increasingly fragile when demand surges.
The Power Plant Reliability Act, passed on a bipartisan basis Tuesday, strengthens grid reliability by giving states and regional operators formal tools to keep essential power plants operating. It amends the Federal Power Act to allow regional transmission operators or state public utility commissions to petition the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue an order keeping a plant open if the closure of the plant could damage electricity reliability. It also obliges power plants slated for closure to provide five years’ advance notice to the applicable PUC, RTO, and the FERC. This will help regulators prevent sudden capacity loss and protect affordable electricity for all.
The Reliable Power Act, passed Wednesday, also on a bipartisan basis, further protects the electric grid by requiring all federal agencies to consider how any proposed regulation could affect grid reliability before finalizing it. It amends the FPA to mandate coordination with the FERC and the Electric Reliability Organization, requiring annual long-term reliability assessments and ensuring that no regulation that would have a substantial negative impact on grid reliability can go forward.
Most importantly, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, passed on Thursday, again on a bipartisan basis, provides long-overdue reform to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, America’s most onerous federal barrier to the creation and maintenance of infrastructure. Just a five-page law that requires “all agencies of the Federal Government” to prepare an “environmental impact” of every federal action that “significantly” affects “the quality of the human environment” included a powerful citizen lawsuit provision that environmental activists have used to delay, extort, and cancel thousands of infrastructure projects across the country.
TRUMP’S POT PANDER WILL GO UP IN SMOKE
The SPEED Act limits the power of activists to block needed infrastructure projects in a number of ways. It narrows what qualifies as a “major federal action,” clarifying that federal financing alone, such as loans, loan guarantees, or grants, does not automatically trigger NEPA review. The bill also tightens judicial review by limiting lawsuits to parties that participated in the public comment process, raised specific substantive objections, and can show direct harm. Most importantly, it ends project paralysis by requiring courts to remand NEPA errors without vacating permits, allowing projects to move forward while agencies correct procedural deficiencies.
All three of these bills now head to the Senate, where they face surprisingly good chances of being passed and sent to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature. None of the bills will be passed by the Senate as is. At a minimum, they will face amendments and possible rewrites in committees. But by getting these bills through the House, all on a bipartisan basis, Johnson has laid the foundation for real, effective regulatory reform that will lower energy prices and increase reliability for everyone.