Washington, DC – Today, Inclusive Abundance Action President Derek Kaufman released the following statement in response to Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) sharing text of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, a permitting reform package:
“After years of working toward this goal, lawmakers from both parties have reached a deal to fix the broken system that keeps America from building the power plants and power lines that would bring costs down. This is a huge bipartisan win at a moment when our politics has made wins like this rare.
“Families are paying too much for electricity because new energy projects wait years on government reviews, then years more in court, and even once they clear, partisan politics can still take them out. That scarcity is a choice. Today, Congress is choosing differently.
“The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act protects projects that have earned their approvals from being revoked for political reasons, whether it is a solar or wind farm, a power line, or a gas pipeline. It includes major transmission reforms to get power lines built. And it requires new data centers to cover the full costs of the grid built to serve them, while making clear that states can charge them more and use the extra money to lower everyone else’s bills. That is what energy abundance looks like in practice: more power, built faster, at a price people can afford.
“Permitting reform has come close before and fallen apart each time, and the cost of inaction has kept growing. Our grid cannot carry cheap electricity to where people live, so customers pay more. Factories, housing, and new industries sit waiting on grid connections that never arrive – and miss out on the jobs and investment that would have come, too. Every year of delay means higher bills, a dirtier grid, and a weaker economy.
“We applaud Senators Capito, Whitehouse, Lee, and Heinrich for demonstrating real leadership in putting together this comprehensive, ambitious package, and we look forward to working with Congress to pass it.”
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Inclusive Abundance Action is a 501(c)(4) organization that advances abundance solutions, including through congressional and executive branch advocacy, and by building the political power to get them passed.