Casten in February. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Sean Casten is trying again on transmission, but he's skeptical that anything will get done this Congress.
Why it matters: Casten's Clean Electricity and Transmission Acceleration Act is a key marker for House Democrats in the larger debate about transmission and permitting.
- If nothing happens with it this Congress, it could resurface if his party takes back the House in next year's midterms.
Driving the news: Casten told Axios he doesn't have a timeline for reintroduction yet, but he said there are "small pieces that might be bipartisan."
- "We're going to drop those individually," he said. "There's a few pieces where we've gotten some feedback and [are] trying to improve it."
- CETA, as introduced last Congress, rolled together a bunch of Democratic proposals on transmission.
- Among other things, it proposed to direct FERC to issue new rules for siting and make big changes to cost allocation for transmission and how planning regions interact.
Yes, but: Casten doesn't think this conversation is going anywhere as long as Republicans control Congress.
- "I think there's a certain naivete that if we just talk long enough, the Republicans will come around on transmission," he said.
- "They're not coming around on transmission because it's a competitive threat to the people who pay their bills."
