Illustration: Tiffany Herring / Axios
Some Republicans are softening their tone on opposing long-haul electric transmission lines needed to deliver power amid rising demand.
Why it matters: The interest in reaching a deal to smooth permitting of transmission — which has become fiercely partisan — would resolve a key point of disagreement in the permitting debate.
- A deal would also be an avenue for wind and solar to achieve some policy wins amid President Trump's hostility to renewables.
The big picture: Much of the GOP energy strategy so far has centered on generation: prioritizing fossil fuel power plants, nuclear reactors and geothermal.
- But as talks heat up around permitting legislation and AI's energy needs, the focus will inevitably turn to the wires.
Zoom in: The Trump administration welcomes the "right kind of transmission" that brings "reliable, dispatchable generation resources online," a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Axios last month.
- "There's not a lot of interest in transmission bridges to nowhere to wind farms that are far away from the population centers," the official said.
- Trump said Tuesday that he agrees with expert analysis that the transmission grid needs to more than double to meet AI demand.
What they're saying: "We're trying to come up with a bipartisan way to address permitting reform," House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie told Axios.
- "We're going to have to look at all of it," Guthrie added. "We need electrons. We need the generation, and we need to move it."
Between the lines: GOP cuts to IRA tax credits for wind and solar may ease Republican arguments that more wires would only help to connect renewable energy.
- Sen. Steve Daines, a close Trump ally, recently pressed DOE Secretary Chris Wright to back the North Plains Connector line that runs from Montana to North Dakota, arguing it would move coal-fired power.
Zoom in: Rep. Troy Balderson — who wants to fast-track nonrenewable power plants — said more transmission is undoubtedly needed.
- His eastern Ohio district, which is experiencing a surge in power demand from data centers and manufacturing, is also home to a producer of durable power grid poles.
- "This not-in-my-backyard stuff — that's another major problem we're having with these power lines and running them through properties," he told me.
House E&C Republicans entered permitting talks late last year without enough time to address transmission issues, Balderson said.
- "They thought it was a little too leaning [toward] what the Democrats wanted," he said.
- But with more time, he predicted that lawmakers should be able to resolve problems — including opposition from rural electric cooperatives over provisions subjecting them to federal jurisdiction.
Yes, but: Many Republicans remain entrenched.
- Sen. Josh Hawley, an ENR member, said last week that Wright had promised to terminate a loan to Invenergy's Grain Belt Express, an 804-mile project to transport power from Kansas to Indiana.
- Hawley called the project running through his state an "elitist land grab harming Missouri farmers and ranchers."
- The DOE, which didn't respond to requests for comment, hasn't announced a change in loan status.
My thought bubble: The more flexible GOP position opens the door for the kind of bargaining Trump enjoys so much.
- Transmission supporters are trying to highlight the reliability benefits of connecting parts of the country — flexing Wyoming coal power during times California solar farms are not producing, for example.
- If transmission projects can be shown to lower energy costs and are located near fossil fuel plants, they could gain support.
