A group of senators today introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, which includes provisions that would support electric grid reforms.
The bill was introduced by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). Reaching this point took months of sustained work by the leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources committees and their staffs, along with the administration.
“We once built projects like the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Empire State Building in years, not decades,” said Sen. Lee. “America still has the resources and the talent, but what too often stands in the way is a permitting system that takes too long and costs too much. After years of work in Congress and many months of negotiations, I’m proud we’ve reached a bipartisan agreement to fix this broken process and get America back to building.”
The bill aims to overcome issues that have stalled grid improvement projects for years:
- It would require regional and interregional transmission planning, so regions can support one another when the grid is under strain.
- It would ensure costs follow the benefits a line actually delivers, from improved reliability to access to lower-cost power, and protect customers from paying for lines that don’t benefit them.
- It would strengthen the federal backstop for siting major interstate lines, with clear standards for approval and state and federal reviews running side by side, while preserving the role of states and giving affected landowners a voice.
- It would require utilities to deploy advanced transmission technologies wherever they’re cost-effective, getting more out of the existing grid while new lines are built.
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It would protect households as demand grows, requiring the largest new electricity users to pay their fair share of the costs of serving them, and speed up connecting new power supplies to the grid.
The package’s broader permitting reforms matter for transmission, too. Major lines typically need approvals from several federal agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. The bill would make FERC the lead agency coordinating those reviews and focus and shorten Clean Water Act reviews for interstate lines. It would also clear the way for upgrades within existing rights of way, like reconductoring and grid-enhancing technologies, without a new federal environmental review.
“For too long, an aging and fragmented grid has stood between American families and businesses and the affordable, reliable power they deserve,” said Patrick Hughes, President of the Board of Directors for Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG), a coalition of 75+ business, labor, consumer and environmental groups. “This bill puts the solution, a stronger and better-connected transmission system, at the center of the conversation, and it takes on the reforms that matter most. We’re especially encouraged by its commitment to planning the grid across regions and to making sure the costs of new lines follow the benefits they deliver.”
Bill details provided by ACEG
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