Rules set to streamline permitting for electricity transmission projects, and requires only one environmental impact statement for each scheme
The US Department of Energy (DoE) is set to become a "one-stop-shop" for permits for new electricity transmission projects under a rule announced by the Biden administration designed to speed up deployment of clean energy in the US.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters yesterday the move is intended to make building green energy projects simpler and faster.
The rule will create a new programme, the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorization and Permits (CITAP), which will be the lead agency handling permits for new energy projects.
Under the new system, applicants will have to prepare only a single environmental impact statement for all their federal authorisations. The federal government will then be required to respond to applications within a fixed deadline.
It marks a major change from the current system, which requires a wide range of permits from a variety of agencies, depending on the specific project.
"CITAP is going to make the federal permitting process for transmission infrastructure more efficient and effective," Granholm said. "This is a huge improvement from the status quo, because developers routinely have to navigate several independent permitting processes throughout the federal government."
CITAP is designed to help energy infrastructure builders in the US meet the 91GW of electricity demand growth expected over the next decade across the country.
CITAP will position DoE as the main point of contact between developers and federal agencies and enforce a two-year deadline that sets a binding schedule for federal agencies to issue all authorisations and permits.
It also requires all applicants to submit a public engagement plan that demonstrates how projects will affect Tribes, local communities and other stakeholders affected by new transmission lines.
In a statement on the CITAP proposal published in 2023, Christina Hayes, executive director for Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, backed the plans. "Implementing a one-stop-shop for agency reviews and setting strict deadlines for this process will represent a fundamental leap forward from the current system, which requires applicants to juggle each agency's timeline separately and can sometimes delay a project by years," she said.
The public engagement aspect will address a longtime drag on the renewable energy sector. Local opposition to new wind and solar farms is typically led by a vocal minority, and 30 per cent of proposed projects are canceled as a result, according to a survey by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The new rule comes the same day the Department of the Interior marks the activation of the Ten West Link transmission line from Arizona to California — the line will support the transmission of 3,200MW of solar energy.
So far during the Biden administration, private companies have invested $77bn in clean energy production and transmission.
This article first appeared at GreenBiz.com.
