EEI's Drew Maloney: America Needs Permitting Reform 'As Soon as Possible'

In a new, wide-ranging, on-camera interview with the Washington Examiner, EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney called on Congress to streamline siting and permitting processes, which he said would “go right at the affordability issue” for customers.

“In order for us to maintain our global competitiveness, we have to be able to build generation and transmission faster than we do today,” Maloney said. “The cost imposed by permitting delays and litigation puts too much on the customer. We need [reform], and we need it as soon as possible.”

Maloney estimates red tape adds up to 25 percent to the cost of building new energy infrastructure. It also inhibits America’s global competitiveness, he said, noting that “China can build a power plant in one to two years, and it takes us more than a decade.”

Maloney also discussed the findings of a new study from Charles River Associates, which analyzed historical government data and found that electricity rates have tracked at or below inflation in 34 states during the past five years. It also found that data centers have not been a driver of rate increases in states outside of the PJM Interconnection in the Mid-Atlantic.

“Data centers really aren't driving the cost. There’s a lot of long-term planning that you see in some states—you've got it in Georgia and Louisiana, Mississippi—where they can save billions of dollars for customers over the time of the investment in the data center,” Maloney said.

Among other topics discussed:

On lowering costs for customers:

“Electric companies every day are working with their customers to identify more efficiencies in the system, whether it's grid-enhancing technologies that lower costs, software development that can ensure power is well balanced in the system.”

On partnerships with data centers:

“What these large load agreements are trying to do is protect customers. They're requiring the data centers to fund their interconnection, fund upgrades to the grid, and ultimately benefit the customer. If you look at a lot of the recent announcements that we've seen, the benefits to customers, the benefits to the local tax base are in the billions of dollars. Over the long term, this is a win-win for the communities, for the electric companies, for the customers, because we're going to get a more resilient grid.”

On permitting reform prospects:

“I think now is the time. There is a recognition that, in order for us to maintain our global competitiveness, we have to be able to build generation and transmission faster than we do today. It's the only way to address the real affordability problem, because the cost imposed by permitting delays and litigation puts too much on the customer.”

On the industry’s commitment to resilience:

“The grid is the most important engine in America. If the grid doesn't work, America doesn't work. And it requires investment. That's why you're going to see America's electric companies invest more than $1 trillion during the next four years—to make sure that the grid is reliable and as affordable as possible every single day.”

On response to Winter Storm Fern:

“You saw 65,000 lineworkers come from around the country to go down to the Southeast to work through two inches of ice to try to get wires back up and running, cut trees down, and work through the night to make sure that people had power back at their houses. That’s what we do in this industry. We pitch in. We ensure that the grid—which is the economic and, I would argue, national security backbone of the country—is always up and running.”

On electricity rate stability:

“What most people don't understand about electricity rates is they are really set at the state level. You have to look at the state averages, and there are some states—on the West Coast, especially California, and also New England and New York—that have disproportionately skewed the national average.”

On the importance of an all-of-the-above energy approach:

"We need all of the above. You look at a state like Iowa—a large percentage of their power comes from wind. Texas has a good mix of wind and solar. You see during a storm like Fern, where we became very reliant on fossil fuel as sort of base load—you need that, too. We need more nuclear. We need it all. We support it all, and, as we say, we need as many electrons on the grid as possible right now."