Permitting Bill Will Call Democrats’ Affordability Bluff, Energy Leaders Say

WASHINGTON — Congress’ permitting maze could decide whether the U.S. can power its industrial future, energy industry leaders warned.

Energy and policy experts argued that slow federal approvals are holding back the power plants, pipelines and infrastructure the country needs, at a Tuesday Daily Caller Live event in Washington, D.C. Christopher Johnson, president of the American Energy Leadership Institute, and Conner Brace of Boundary Stone Partners said the Senate’s bipartisan permitting bill — dubbed the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act — will test whether Democrats will back a measure to lower energy costs after running campaigns on affordability.

“The reason why [environmental groups] oppose this bill is because their main agreement is to stop growth at all costs. That means suing everything from pipeline to solar panels,” Johnson said at the panel moderated by Daily Caller Senior Politics Editor Will Upton. “That is their main point of power, and so, this is a real test for Democrats.”

Johnson argued the bill would act as an early test for Democrats to vote on a bill aimed at lowering energy costs.

Brace acknowledged that Democrats could legislate data centers.

“The Democrats have the first opportunity to pass [the] first federal law governing data centers … [which] will make it so that ratepayers are not exposed and don’t have to pay for the data center developers,” Brace said at the panel. “That’s exactly what these people campaigned. They’re going to vote against it.”

The bipartisan bill, which advanced to the Senate on Monday, would also require large data centers to cover the cost of grid upgrades themselves, rather than burdening ratepayers with the costs.

“This is a good start, and this process more broadly is building really good muscle for getting bipartisan stuff done,” Brace said. “We’ve done a lot of legislating by reconciliation bill along party lines or cramming must-pass bills at the end of the year.”

The House in Dec. 2025 passed the SPEED Act, a bill which would accelerate the federal environmental review process for energy initiatives. After Democrats decisively won control of the House and Senate on Nov. 3, in what has been dubbed a been dubbed a “blue tsunami,” the current lame-duck session may be the last opportunity for Republicans to pass permitting reform while they control both chambers of Congress.

Johnson said building large-scale projects to power artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing technologies can inspire the younger generations, and whichever party or coalition seizes on that will “rebuild hope in this country.”

“When you talk to young people … they’re watching China build entire cities in a decade, and we can’t even build one housing project in the same amount of time,” Johnson said.

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