As Democrats seek changes to bill on energy permits, divisions emerge

By Valerie Volcovici

ANTALYA, Turkey, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives are working on changes to a sweeping energy permitting overhaul bill, but some of their colleagues want to wait until they take control of Congress next year.

The US Senate voted 73-25 last week to begin debate on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a far-reaching measure that would streamline approvals for power plants, transmission lines, mines and other projects while requiring large data centers to shoulder more of the costs of grid upgrades needed to serve them.

The legislation has exposed divisions among Democrats and environmental groups after midterm election results gave the Democratic Party majorities in both chambers of Congress next year.   

Some Democrats have argued for waiting until they take over in January so they can pursue an ambitious package that does more to limit fossil fuel development. 

Others say Congress should capitalize on the current bipartisan agreement moving through the Senate, particularly because President Donald Trump has indicated he would sign the measure.

“There’s a lot of work behind the scenes right now to improve it,”  US Representative Kathy Castor, a Florida Democrat, told Reuters on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey.

Castor said she and other House Democrats are focused on revising provisions affecting the federal Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act rather than waiting for next year. She did not specify what changes they are seeking, but some Democratic lawmakers previously have expressed concerns that the Senate bill weakens some requirements for public input before projects are approved. 

She praised measures already in the bill aimed at expanding transmission capacity, integrating more clean energy onto the grid, supporting community solar and establishing protections related to rapidly growing data center demand.

US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, who is one of the bill’s lead negotiators, told reporters in Antalya that he has received “good signals” from House colleagues that a compromise could be reached if the legislation clears the Senate in the coming weeks.

“I do think that success in the House depends on the continued support from the president … and from a significant number of Democrats who support the bill,” Whitehouse said.

While the measure has attracted support from Trump, organized labor and parts of the clean-energy industry, some Democrats who favor waiting until next year say that voters want both affordable energy and stronger safeguards to shape the expansion of data centers and the infrastructure needed to power them.

“Many of these senators and members of the House of Representatives were sent here by their voters to work on this very issue,”  US Representative Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, told Reuters. “It’s not like if we don’t pass something now, it won’t ever get done.”

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Antalya, Turkey; Editing by Sergio Non and Sanjeev Miglani)