Lee in May. Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
Sen. Mike Lee has been an enigmatic contrast to past Energy and Natural Resources leaders — but an upcoming effort to overhaul permitting represents his biggest opportunity to show his cards.
Why it matters: Geothermal permitting legislation, which Lee and ranking ENR Democrat Martin Heinrich are sponsoring, could gain traction. The energy source has won bipartisan support from Congress and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
- "There is a history of them working together on permitting reform, related to geothermal, to get things done," said Jack Conness, a senior regulatory and policy associate at Fervo Energy.
Driving the news: Oil and gas interests similarly are pressing for a permitting package that quickens environmental reviews and limits judicial review.
- Lee is "uniquely positioned" to lead on permitting, said Rikki Hrenko-Browning, president of the Utah Petroleum Association.
- As a Utahn, Lee "has direct insight into the added regulatory burdens and challenges that come with the multi-jurisdictional environment faced by energy and infrastructure development in the West," she said.
Yes, but: Last month's ENR hearing on power grid issues — seen as a public starting gun for permitting talks — focused mostly on partisan leanings.
- Lee repeatedly attacked solar and wind as unreliable to supply data centers, while Heinrich has joined his party in arguing that the GOP stance will raise energy prices for consumers.
- "Wind and solar credits must be backed by peaker gas plants or batteries, which cost more than three times as much as baseload power," Lee said.
- Wind and solar "have their place," but "baseload power is not something that they produce," he added.
The big picture: Lee has a reputation as a cultural warrior who blocks legislation on the Senate floor and prefers to make his case through his prolific and politically charged social media presence.
- Previous chairs Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski made their energy agendas well known and regularly reached across the aisle to cut deals.
"Without Sen. Manchin, it's going to be more difficult to get things done" on the committee, said Kathleen Sgamma, a longtime Western energy lobbyist whose nomination to lead the BLM was abruptly pulled hours before her ENR hearing.
- On public-land issues, Heinrich is "interested in the preservation-only agenda, so I think it's a more difficult climb for Sen. Lee with Sen. Heinrich," she added.
Zoom in: Specific energy policies haven't been prominent on Lee's agenda, which has focused on selling public lands, reining in regulations, expanding mineral mining and pushing Energy and Interior nominees.
- The reconciliation bill and funding cuts have deepened the divide between Lee and Heinrich, who accused Lee of breaching committee protocol just days after Lee took the gavel in January.
- Lee hasn't responded to multiple requests for interviews since he became chair. He seldom speaks to reporters in Senate hallways.
The bottom line: Whether Lee is willing to work with Democrats on a bipartisan deal that includes transmission and renewable energy priorities.
