Credit: Amazon
On April 16, nearly 200 solar and storage companies sent a letter to congressional leaders calling for legislation to improve permitting, project siting, transmission, and access to public lands for solar and solar + storage projects.
Market forecasts indicate that a range of policy and economic outcomes will determine the scale of solar deployment over the next decade, including regulatory factors and the pace of transmission capacity expansion. Companies across the solar and storage value chain are calling on lawmakers to propose licensing and siting reforms that could support the sector’s growth trajectory.
“There are hundreds of billions of investment dollars that depend on our ability to deliver, permit, and efficiently connect clean energy projects to a modern transmission system,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA. “Lawmakers in both parties understand the importance of building new energy infrastructure quickly and efficiently. Now is the time for policy action to strengthen America’s energy industry and support local economies with jobs and private investment.”
The 200 companies recommend the following reforms:
- Modernize Federal Energy Permitting: Streamline and standardize the permitting process at the federal level while supporting environmental safeguards.
- Create project siting partnerships at all levels of government: Encourage federal, state, and local authorities to work together to identify and designate suitable sites for clean energy development, including on underutilized and disturbed lands.
- Build transmission capacity: Invest in transmission planning, network build-out and modernization to maximize transmission capacity and unlock the full potential of solar energy, especially in remote areas with abundant solar resources.
- Enable the board to achieve public lands goals: Simplify the process for clean energy generation and transmission projects to access public leases while maintaining environmental conservation standards.
- Promote interagency cooperation: Empower federal agencies with establishment authority – such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Energy – to create a central clearinghouse for permit applications to ensure a streamlined approval process for critical transmission infrastructure.
According to forecasts by Wood Mackenzie, the solar industry could reach 673 GW by 2034, but there is a 200 GW difference between the high and low solar deployment forecasts. If Congress fails to take action on authorizing and enacting reforms, communities could lose billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs.
“Allowing reforms at the federal level and significant investments in the transmission system are essential to our national energy security,” said Amanda Smith, VP of external affairs for AES’s U.S. renewable energy business. “AES has more than 50 gigawatts of clean energy projects in our U.S. development pipeline. Many of these projects are ready to move forward and will generate critical economic investment and create jobs in local communities across the country, but they require rapid permitting and transmission infrastructure upgrades to ensure we have a clean, reliable energy future can promote.”
“Our current laws are not designed to enable our nation to build generation and transmission at the scale necessary to support our economic growth,” said Virinder Singh, vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs for EDF Renewables. “For example, the western US needs more solar energy on federal lands to meet its reliability needs. We can do it, and while respecting environmental and community priorities. But we need federal leadership that fits the moment.”
“A lack of transmission capacity is the biggest barrier to the continued growth of the renewable industry,” said David Mindham, director of regulatory affairs for EDP Renewables North America. “The proposed reforms will remove these barriers, create thousands of new American manufacturing jobs and support local economies.”
“Pine Gate calls on Congress to improve energy infrastructure as we prepare to invest billions of dollars to promote positive economic growth and support local communities across the country,” said Maggie Sasser, vice president of the government and external affairs for Pine Gate Renewables.
News item from SEIA