OPINION:
Look beyond the Beltway if you want to see where America’s energy future lies.
It’s in the power lines crossing the plains, the substations outside small towns, and the crews upgrading the grid that keeps the country running.
That’s America’s rural heartland. Not Washington, D.C.
Still, our capital city must step up.
For too long, outdated permitting rules have stalled rural progress and driven up costs for families and small businesses. Projects to strengthen the grid or expand manufacturing routinely spend years — sometimes more than a decade — navigating a maze of approvals and lawsuits. The result is predictable: delayed investments, higher power bills, and missed opportunities in the communities that need them most.
These delays are compounded by real-world supply chain challenges.
A new transformer ordered today can take three years to deliver — up from four to six weeks just a few years ago — because the domestic transformer workforce faces a 30% shortfall. Shortages of skilled technicians and engineers are extending production timelines and driving up costs across the grid supply chain. When projects stall on top of that, the ripple effects hit co-ops, manufacturers, and consumers alike. In rural communities where every dollar counts, those added costs show up directly in monthly bills.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Congress should pass the bipartisan SPEED Act, introduced by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine. The Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act would modernize how America reviews and approves major projects, from transmission lines to manufacturing sites and forest-management initiatives.
Faster approvals translate to lower project costs. Lower project costs mean lower electric bills for families, small businesses, and co-ops. Permitting reform isn’t abstract. Instead, it’s one of the most direct ways Congress can make power more affordable for rural America.
While it’s not a comprehensive permitting fix, the SPEED Act is a serious and meaningful step to modernize the grid and strengthen U.S. manufacturing helping America build again, starting in places that form the backbone of our economy.
A Rural Solution to a National Problem
Permitting reform is often framed as a big-industry issue. But rural communities bear the brunt of delay. They’re home to the small manufacturers and co-ops that must stretch every dollar to deliver reliable, affordable power.
When a substation upgrade or factory expansion sits idle waiting for federal review, those same communities are left waiting for transformers, switchgear, and the workforce needed to install them. That’s inefficiency — and lost opportunity. When projects drag on fo years, American families pay for it.
The SPEED Act would help co-ops upgrade and maintain infrastructure more efficiently — reducing costs, easing financial strain on businesses, and helping protect consumers from higher bills. In places where budgets are tight and reliability means everything, those efficiencies matter.
Modernizing the Grid, Strengthening the Economy
Today’s grid wasn’t built for a future that has already arrived. Advanced manufacturing facilities, technologies that make modern life possible, and data centers are driving an unprecedented surge in power demand. Yet power outages already cost the U.S. economy $150 billion annually. Without faster approvals for modernization projects, that tab will only grow, along with the costs that families and businesses shoulder.
At the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), our 300 member companies build the tools that make the electrified future possible: circuit breakers, transformers, lighting, motors, storage systems, EV charging, and digital controls. Our members are investing in U.S. factories and creating high-skill jobs. Still, permitting and workforce delays together now threaten to slow that momentum.
We can’t afford to let bureaucracy outpace innovation.
But permitting reform isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about cutting red tape. The SPEED Act does both responsibly and transparently by aligning agencies, setting timelines, and preserving environmental standards while allowing projects to move at the pace innovation and affordability demand.
Bipartisan Momentum, Local Impact
The SPEED Act builds on bipartisan momentum from earlier efforts like the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, led by former Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; the complementary transmission-planning work by Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Mike Lee, R-Utah; and the Department of Energy’s new Coordinated Interagency Authorizations and Permits program, spearheaded by Secretary Chris Wright.
Those efforts share a common goal: to make America nimble enough to build what we need, when we need it.
As Chairman Westerman put it, the SPEED Act is “a big step in the right direction” that lets America “innovate and implement” again. In towns from Montana to Maine, where a single delayed substation or canceled manufacturing expansion can quiet economic activity, this bipartisan bill would bring predictability so engineers, contractors, and suppliers can plan, hire, and build with confidence.
Building for the Future
The SPEED Act mirrors the values that define rural America: self-reliance, stewardship, and a desire to get things done.
It recognizes that environmental protection and economic progress go hand in hand and ensures the next generation of infrastructure can be built faster and smarter while keeping costs manageable for the communities that depend on it.
As our national energy system shifts to meet modern electricity demands, the communities that can build the fastest will lead the charge. To get us there, Congress should pass the SPEED Act. The future of our grid, and the prosperity of the communities that sustain it, depends on rural America’s ability to build and prosper again.
• Debra Phillips is president and CEO of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).
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