Martha Muir in New York Published October 1 2026 A bipartisan group of US senators released a long-awaited permitting reform bill on Wednesday, which aims to speed up energy projects to meet the country’s booming demand. Highlights of the 417-page bill text include: The federal government can’t pull permits after September 16 2026 or prevent a permitted project from being built — unless it can prove a breach of law, fraud or new information proving harm to human life, property or national security. The legal burden is flipped.
Instead of developers having to show the government’s action was unlawful, the government would have to prove with “clear and convincing evidence” that they have a right to intervene. If the government unlawfully intervenes, developers can claw back legal fees and delay costs plus 25 to 50 per cent of costs already incurred. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, he has repeatedly tried to throttle wind energy projects, including five off the US east coast and hundreds of onshore projects, invoking national security concerns that his opponents dismiss as a smokescreen for his hatred of renewable energy.
But Republicans say this goes back even further, pointing to Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s efforts to constrain fossil fuel development, including pauses on new drilling leases and LNG export approvals. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Utah’s Mike Lee authored the bill. “We once built projects like the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building in years, not decades,” said 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.” Attempts to reform permitting have floundered, notably in 2022, when an attempt by senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer failed due to Republican anger over the former’s role in passing the Inflation Reduction Act and Democrat concerns that it would weaken environmental protections. Even earlier this week, reports circled that language protecting offshore projects had been significantly watered down by the administration.
The bill’s fate will be decided in the lame-duck period after November’s midterm elections. In today’s newsletter we report on California’s debate over wildfire compensation, as utilities attempt to limit their liability following last year’s blazes in Los Angeles. Thanks for reading, Martha.
California debates how to compensate wildfire victims The chief executive of the California company at the centre of last year’s Los Angeles wildfires has called for a cap on utilities’ wildfire liability, warning that the current system risks the industry’s viability. How victims of the blaze should be compensated is the subject of fierce debate in the state, with the legislature failing in September to pass new laws to determine who should pay. A proposal from Governor Gavin Newsom, which would have shielded utilities from bankruptcy-causing costs, faced intense pushback from insurance companies and victims’ advocacy groups.
The California State Assembly declined to vote on a compromise bill that would have sped up compensation for fire victims and preserved insurance companies’ right to recover costs from utilities. Potential reforms are of great interest to Southern California Edison. Sparks from a transmission tower owned by the company have been deemed the cause of the 2025 Eaton blaze that killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes and buildings, according to Los Angeles County fire officials.
The company faces ab...
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing