By Ron Dickson

Thank you, U.S. Reps. Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd, for your participation in the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus and your support of comprehensive energy permitting reform. We also appreciate U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s continued efforts to enhance our national electricity grid.

The energy demands of the mountain west are rapidly growing. Data center proliferation, population growth and the electrification of businesses, homes and transportation are increasing our need for more electricity. At the same time, an aging power grid puts reliable and affordable energy at risk.

More energy, coupled with improved and expanded electricity transmission, would meet these power demands. Unfortunately, the slow-motion federal permitting process creates a bottleneck that impedes project delivery, tying up new energy projects for years. This negatively influences investor participation and adds significantly to project costs.

Today, it takes an average of 4.5 years for federal agencies to complete environmental impact statements for major energy projects. These are important assessments, but they could move faster.

Successive administrations from both parties have selectively obstructed certain types of energy projects. As energy concerns grow, selective obstruction creates localized pressure for unilateral actions. A coordinated national approach to permitting reform would benefit everyone.

That is why we appreciate the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus’s endorsement of a bipartisan permitting reform framework. Stable, predictable permitting is essential for all energy developers, which in turn provides communities’ access to affordable power, private investment and new jobs.

For example, Utah is emerging as a leader in geothermal energy. Colorado also wishes to develop the “heat under our feet” as one of several sustainable energy sources needed to meet its emission reduction goals. However, it is generally easier and less expensive to permit new fossil fuel energy systems on Federal land than it is to permit a new geothermal generating plant. Our objective should be comprehensive permitting reform that levels the playing field so new energy sources can compete on their economic merits. This is particularly important for Colorado’s energy transition.

Electricity transmission is also a particularly urgent challenge. U.S. transmission infrastructure has grown by just 1% per year during the past decade, largely because it takes more than a decade on average to build a new transmission line. Meanwhile, electricity demand is expected to grow by 35% to 50% during the next 16 years.

The TransWest Express transmission line in Wyoming illustrates the problem. After a plus-15-year permitting effort, construction finally began in 2023. The line will send electricity from what will be Wyoming’s (and the country’s) largest onshore wind project for use in California, Arizona and Nevada. The full 3,000-MW line is expected to be completed by the end of 2028.

Permitting delays are compounded by the fragility and fragmentation of the nation’s electricity grids. Limited interconnection between transmission regions makes it harder to balance supply and demand. Improved regional connectivity would allow states to import power during shortages and export excess energy when supplies are abundant.

Montana’s constrained transmission system drives up costs when importing energy during high-demand periods. In contrast, neighboring Idaho — connected to solar generation in the southwest — avoids similar price spikes during extreme weather. Montana needs improved, coordinated transmission connectivity within the state and with neighboring regions. Similarly, Colorado’s Electric Transmission Authority has identified the need to address Colorado’s growing electricity needs by upgrading existing lines, building new ones, and expanding interregional grid connectivity to neighboring transmission regions.

Despite these needs, the U.S. lacks the processes and authority necessary to advance inter-regional transmission at scale. Congressional action could strengthen grid reliability, diversify energy supply, reduce pollution, and enhance national energy security.

The path forward is clear: we need more energy coupled with improved and expanded transmission of electricity. This can be accomplished by faster, more predictable permitting — paired with meaningful community engagement. Comprehensive permitting reform can deliver all three.

This isn’t a partisan issue — it’s an American one. Please join us in asking all our senators and congressional representatives to work together and support comprehensive permitting reform that will benefit Colorado and the mountain west.

Ron Dickson resides in Fort Collins. He has a background in environmental engineering and management consulting.  He volunteers with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby focusing on bipartisan climate education.