WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), issued the following statement on the release of permitting reform legislation, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, in the U.S. Senate:
“BCSE commends the continued bipartisan work in Congress to modernize the nation’s permitting system and the further development of a comprehensive legislative permitting reform package. Building on the important progress made by the House of Representatives, Congress now has an opportunity to advance comprehensive, durable permitting reform that can provide greater certainty for investment and accelerate the deployment of critical energy infrastructure.
“The United States needs more energy infrastructure to meet rising energy demand, maintain reliability and affordability, and support continued economic growth and competitiveness. Yet lengthy and unpredictable permitting processes, overlapping agency reviews, and litigation can delay projects for years. BCSE believes reform should provide clear and predictable permitting timelines and greater coordination among agencies so that project developers and investors can rely on final permitting decisions with certainty.
“Comprehensive reform should address the full range of barriers to building the energy infrastructure the country needs. This includes permitting certainty; reforms to environmental review processes and key environmental statutes; and measures to improve the planning, permitting, and construction of transmission infrastructure. These elements should work together to create a more efficient and predictable system that enables projects and infrastructure to move forward.
“Permitting reform needs to address the unique attributes of energy technologies and system efficiency to reduce strains on our energy infrastructure, this includes the regional attributes of renewable energy resources assuring stabilized generation costs due to optimum resource access. Further, the reforms should accelerate the integration of the wide portfolio of energy storage technologies which lower costs and dramatically increase electric grid resiliency and reliability.
“BCSE will review the Senate legislation and looks forward to working with Congress as it considers the legislation. The Council urges enactment of bipartisan, comprehensive, and durable permitting reform this year.”
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About the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE): The Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) is a coalition of companies and trade associations that deploy clean energy and decarbonization solutions, with a sector focus on energy efficiency, natural gas, and renewable energy, in addition to energy storage, sustainable transportation, and more. Our members include investor-owned utilities, public power, independent power producers, project developers, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, environmental and energy market service companies, and more. Learn more at bcse.org.