{"id":3833,"date":"2026-07-19T19:39:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3833"},"modified":"2026-07-19T19:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:39:42","slug":"opinion-utahs-leadership-on-permitting-reform-is-a-win-for-energy-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3833","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Utah\u2019s leadership on permitting reform is a win for energy affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Western energy has a wiring problem.<\/p>\n

Not in the sense that the lights are going out \u2014 though in some parts of the region that\u2019s becoming a real risk. The wiring problem is about transmission lines: the high-voltage infrastructure that moves power from where it\u2019s generated to where it\u2019s consumed.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: In Utah, public lands are where politics should tread carefully<\/a><\/p>\n

These transmission lines are like roads for electricity \u2014 and the ones that already exist are increasingly congested. Building new ones is maddeningly slow, in part because a transmission line that crosses state lines has to run a permitting gauntlet in every state it passes through.<\/p>\n

Thankfully though, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and 10 fellow Western governors are taking a serious shot at fixing that problem.<\/p>\n

How leaders are tackling permitting complications for transmission lines<\/h3>\n

At the recent Western Governors\u2019 Association annual meeting in Park City, Cox announced the the Transmission Permitting Alignment and Coordination Task Force \u2014 or PACT. <\/p>\n

The bipartisan PACT was by the governors of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, North Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico and Washington.<\/p>\n

PACT aims to solve the lack of coordination across different levels of government for major power grid infrastructure projects \u2014 a problem that adds years to construction times and can sometimes kill these projects outright.<\/p>\n

When a developer wants to build a new high-voltage transmission line across the West, they don\u2019t face one permitting process. They face a separate process for every state they cross, plus the federal process for federal land, plus tribal consultations, plus local approvals.<\/p>\n

Each permitting process runs on its own timeline with its own rules. A project that clears one state\u2019s process can sit stuck in another for years, with no mechanism to identify problems early or keep all parties moving together.<\/p>\n

PACT creates that mechanism. By bringing Western governors and tribal nations into a formal coordination structure, it gives people a common table to sit around and work out conflicts before they become multiyear delays. <\/p>\n

The 11 states in the PACT have also endorsed an ongoing study of energy transmission needs across the region, known as WestTEC. This study has already concluded that over the next 10 years, the Western U.S. will need 12,600 miles of new transmission lines and another 3,330 miles of upgrades to keep up with demand.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: AI anxiety is real \u2014 so are Utah\u2019s solutions<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to cut through the red tape,\u201d Cox said at the PACT launch. \u201cModernizing our grid will show that we can continue to increase economic competition, ensure energy security and mitigate environmental hazards \u2014 all doing it together as Western governors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Cox\u2019s emphasis on energy<\/h3>\n

Cox was right to highlight the importance of economic competition because transmission congestion is the enemy of energy affordability.<\/p>\n

When electricity can\u2019t move freely within states or across state lines, consumers pay for power from the nearest generator rather than the cheapest one. On the other hand, reducing bottlenecks expands choice and puts downward pressure on prices.<\/p>\n

In a region where electricity demand is growing fast \u2014 about 30% over the next decade, according to the WestTEC study \u2014 that\u2019s not an academic exercise. Reducing bottlenecks is what determines your monthly utility bills.<\/p>\n

This may explain why eleven governors \u2014 from deep-red Wyoming to deep-blue Washington \u2014 all signed on as members of the PACT. A group of leading Republicans and Democrats agreed that building the Western grid is not a partisan issue. It\u2019s a prerequisite for our economic future and a challenge too big for any state to solve on its own.<\/p>\n

Cox has made energy his signature issue during his chairmanship of the Western Governors\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, he reached an agreement with the Trump administration to speed up federal permitting times in Utah. Back in 2024, the governor Operation Gigawatt, an initiative to double Utah\u2019s capacity for generating electricity in just 10 years.<\/p>\n

Together with PACT, these bold moves on energy are turning Utah and the broader West into a place where energy infrastructure can actually get built, the supply of energy remains robust and energy bills stay affordable.<\/p>\n

Read more New study identifies link between air pollution and preterm birth<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A transmission line that crosses state lines has to run a permitting gauntlet in every state it passes through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nOpinion: Utah\u2019s leadership on permitting reform is a win for energy affordability - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3833\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion: Utah\u2019s leadership on permitting reform is a win for energy affordability - 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