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Lawmaker says federal 'nexus' is effectively blocking solar projects, warns of electricity shortfall
Summary
A lawmaker told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs that projects with a federal nexus are being blocked in practice, saying 90% of queued projects are solar and warning that permit revocations and delays are creating an "electron shortage." No formal vote or action was recorded in the transcript.
A lawmaker told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs that there is "effectively a ban on solar energy projects" when a project has any federal nexus, arguing that federal permitting practices are preventing solar projects from moving forward.
The lawmaker said "90% of the projects in the queue are solar" and that "the vast majority of the electricity that is available to get online is solar energy," framing solar as the primary near-term source for increasing generation. The speaker said the problem goes beyond projects on federal land to any development with a federal connection.
"There's a national solar ban right now," the lawmaker said, and argued that Congress must write permitting reforms with the expectation that future administrations may not favor renewable projects. The speaker referred to testimony from the CEO of Bechtel, saying when the government makes a decision "it has to stick." The lawmaker added that permitting reform requires confidence that rules will not be used to advantage fossil-fuel interests: "we're not gonna make the world safe for the American Petroleum Institute and not for all these solar projects."
The lawmaker framed the issue as both a climate and an economic concern, saying that even setting climate policy aside, the permit situation is contributing to higher electricity costs and an "electron shortage," and that increasing demand from data centers will heighten the problem if projects continue to stall. The transcript includes the claim that "a lot of projects are dying on the vine right now and creating an energy shortage," which the speaker linked to permit revocations and administrative delays.
The speaker urged addressing the asserted national solar ban before making statutory changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), saying lawmakers should not overhaul procedural rules while agencies are using other tools to block projects. The transcript records discussion and claims by the lawmaker but does not record a vote, motion, or formal committee action on the topic.
No independent evidence for the lawmaker's quantitative claims (for example, the 90% figure) was provided in the transcript; those figures are attributed to the speaker.
