Senate Permitting Bill Would End Utilities' Right to Build New Regional Lines
A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Wednesday would let FERC permit transmission lines project by project and end the federal right of first refusal for incumbent utilities, Utility Dive reports.
Market Impact
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). Per Utility Dive, it eliminates National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors and lets FERC issue permits for building or modifying transmission facilities, based on factors such as consistency with the public interest. It also strips incumbent utilities of their automatic right to build new regional lines.
The bill would also require FERC to issue a rule directing each transmission planning region to file a consolidated interconnection and regional transmission planning process. The model is the process FERC approved for the Southwest Power Pool in March.
Timing is uncertain. Advanced Energy United spokesperson Adam Winer told Utility Dive the group is optimistic the bill can pass the Senate sometime after the November elections. Whitehouse said amendments will be considered when the Senate reconvenes in November. Devin Hartman of the Lighthouse Energy Institute said the bill will likely change during the legislative process. The bill builds on two earlier permitting efforts that stalled in Congress.
Other provisions could affect field work. Transmission costs would be assigned to owners and operators of data centers and other computational loads. For loads of 20 MW or more, the bill mandates exit charges and bars recovery of incremental costs from other customers. It also reduces state authority under Clean Water Act section 401 to block gas pipeline applications. Hartman said that could matter in gas-constrained regions like the Northeast.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- No bid stage exists yet. This is a Senate bill, not law, and the source names no projects, owners or EPC packages. The next gate is the amendment process when the Senate reconvenes in November. Passage is not expected before the November elections.
- Line, substation and civil subs: Ending the federal right of first refusal removes incumbents’ automatic claim on new regional lines. Our inference is that third-party developers could win lines incumbents would otherwise hold, which would shift who issues EPC and construction packages. If the bill passes, add non-utility transmission developers to your prequalification and outreach lists alongside utility supply-chain teams.
- Planning-region work: FERC would have to write a rule requiring consolidated interconnection and regional planning filings, modeled on the SPP process approved in March. Interconnection-heavy scopes such as substation and E&I work are the likeliest to follow. No rule timeline appears in the source.
- Data center interconnection: The bill would put transmission costs on loads of 20 MW or more, with exit charges. Owners of large loads would carry the cost of the grid work serving them. Electrical and substation contractors serving data center developers should expect owners to scrutinize scope and pricing.
- Pipeline contractors in the Northeast: Reduced state section 401 authority could ease permitting for gas pipeline applications. The source ties this to gas-constrained regions and names no specific projects.
