Leadership Now Project Endorses Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act

Today, Leadership Now Project endorsed the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, legislation that would expand the electrical grid, speed up energy permitting, and protect consumers from having data center costs shifted onto their utility bills. The U.S. energy system faces rising demand, aging infrastructure, and a permitting process that has slowed critical projects for years. Recent bipartisan negotiations have strengthened the legislation, offering a practical path forward.

“At a time of historic dissatisfaction with government, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act offers an encouraging example of Congress working together to get things done,” said Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO of Leadership Now Project. “We support this legislation to strengthen U.S. energy security and affordability and encourage Congress to pass it.”

Introduced by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the bill would:

• Expand the electrical grid, giving the federal government stronger authority to approve major interstate power lines — including the ability to step in when states stall — and improving the framework for allocating transmission costs.
• Speed up permitting decisions and legal reviews by requiring project sponsors to approve extensions, setting deadlines for federal permit decisions, and shortening the window for NEPA legal challenges from the generally applicable six years to 150 days.
• Protect approved projects by limiting when federal agencies can revoke or modify permits, while preserving lawful regulatory authority and judicial review and applying the same rules regardless of energy source or administration.
• Require data centers to pay their fair share, covering both embedded costs (their use of existing grid) and incremental costs (transmission upgrades needed to serve them), rather than shifting those costs to other customers.

“Years of permitting delays and prolonged litigation raise the cost of building energy infrastructure and slow the investment needed to meet rising demand,” said Kevin Brennan, Leadership Now National Advisory Board member and Interim Director of Research at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “This bill would help move projects faster through the review process and expand the grid; it deserves bipartisan support.”