U.S. Senators introduce federal energy permitting reform bill
A quartet of U.S. Senators have introduced a new bill aiming to reform the federal environmental review and permitting process, including permitting of solar projects.
Officially titled the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, the four legislators say the “groundbreaking” new bill will, if passed, deliver a three-pronged package of benefits across the U.S. Promising more jobs, responsible industrial growth, and cheaper energy prices for Americans, the bill allows for retention of permits and targeted reforms for various energy projects.
“America is entering a new era of energy demand,” says Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico and a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “We have an enormous opportunity to build big things again to meet this moment – to build more generation, expand our grid, create more jobs, lower energy costs, and make sure we have the energy we need to compete. It should not take decades to build the infrastructure our country needs.”
“Our Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act will help us get to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on energy projects faster, while protecting important environmental safeguards and protecting the ability of Tribes to formally consult during these processes.”
Heinrich adds that the bill has a fourth potential benefit: forcing AI leaders and other tech firms to pay their fair share to construct their data centers.
“(This bill’s passing) will mean more energy on the grid, more good-paying jobs, and lower electricity costs for families and businesses,” he says. “And as data centers drive demand for more power, it will ensure they pay their fair share of the grid upgrades they require – not leave that bill to American families. Our bill puts teeth behind that principle.”
A look at the text
The bill provides certainty that permitted energy and infrastructure projects will retains permits, absent violations of law, court order, or other “extraordinary circumstances.” The bill includes input from both sides of the political aisle, including from co-author Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah and the chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“We once built projects like the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Empire State Building in years, not decades,” Lee says. “America still has the resources and the talent, but what too often stands in the way is a permitting system that takes too long and costs too much.”
The bill’s text mentions solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources will be looped into the permitting reform. Specifically, the bill aims to protect these projects with a subsection on fair treatment, stating that “all Federal agencies shall treat all applications for Federal authorizations or permits fairly and efficiently.”
The bill also mentions streamlining processes for solar-based distributed energy resources, one of the industry’s hot topics in 2026. The prospective law aims to break down barriers to construction and installation of distributed generation, according to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia and the chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
“For far too long, our broken and outdated federal environmental review and permitting processes have stood in the way of energy reliability, secure jobs, modern infrastructure, and economic growth,” she says. “The bipartisan reforms we secured in this deal will transform our nation’s ability to power our economy and fuel future growth, while continuing to protect the land, water, and wildlife we all cherish.”
The solar industry reacts
The news of this bill’s introduction has sent ripples through the solar industry, boding well for the renewable energy space despite consistent political turmoil under the second Trump administration.
“This is exactly the kind of bipartisan action America needs to meet growing energy demand, put downward pressure on energy prices, and deploy more affordable, reliable solar and storage for American families and businesses,” says Tim Pawlenty, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, echoed Pawlenty’s sentiment. Passing the bill into law before the end of 2026 is “essential” to lower consumer prices and enable renewable energy construction, he says.
“All energy industries must be able to confidently rely on the durability of federal permitting decisions,” Grumet says. “The transmission provisions will also enhance grid reliability and enable economic growth. If adopted, the legislation will substantially increase the deployment of clean resources.”
Permitting reform has been on the congressional agenda for “decades,” according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The center states that “reviews that once were completed in weeks or months now take years or decades,” and that delays on heavily polluting projects, while originally meant to protect the environment, now also delay renewable energy technology deployment.
“The American people want lower energy bills, and they want more clean energy. Our permitting reform plan gets us a long way toward both of those goals. If we can pass this bill, we will flood the grid with clean, affordable energy and make data centers start paying their fair share,” says Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, one of the bill’s co-authors, and a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
“Like all major pieces of bipartisan legislation, this bill is a compromise. We believe it is a compromise that will result in a brighter, cleaner, more affordable future.”
