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Governors urge NEPA and permitting reforms to speed transmission projects
Summary
Panelists said lengthy permitting under NEPA and repeated restart of timelines block transmission builds, citing examples of multi‑year delays and calling for a mix of federal support and state capacity to speed projects while respecting local input.
Governors at the panel repeatedly singled out permitting and transmission as bottlenecks for bringing new power to market. Governor Gordon said NEPA has been altered over time and is now an impediment: "a wind farm in Wyoming took 12 years to get permitted on its transmission." He argued for reforms that devolve some authority to states with federal backing.
Governor Little and Spencer echoed concerns about investor certainty, noting that projects in Idaho have taken many years — one example given was an 18‑year effort still unfinished — and that repeated restarts of procedural clocks can indefinitely delay projects. "Nobody... if you can't permit a transmission facility in a county where everybody in the county is a beneficiary of it, I just think it's a big problem," Governor Little said. The governors framed reforms as necessary to preserve both property rights and timely project decisions.
Implication: Officials asked Congress and federal agencies to consider changes that preserve local input but reduce procedural delay and create predictable rules for multi‑billion dollar transmission investments.
