Local opinion: Arizona is a clean energy leader. Permitting reform can help us go further

Arizona is one of the best states in the country for clean energy. We rank among the top five states in the nation for solar generating capacity. And already, $12.75 billion in clean energy investment has been committed in our state, resulting in the creation of 18,000 good-paying jobs.

That's not an accident. It's the product of years of investment and smart policy. But we can't stop here.

Arizona's growing economy and population mean our energy needs will only increase. Governor Katie Hobbs's Arizona Energy Promise Task Force found that peak electricity demand in our state could grow by up to 40% over the next 15 years. That's an enormous amount of new power we need to bring online, and soon.

Importantly, the task force recognizes this, which is why the top priority was getting new clean energy projects permitted and built quickly. This is the thinking that Washington needs to adopt, too.

As the former executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party and someone who served in the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations, I've spent my career fighting for policies that lift up working families. Making sure Arizona has enough affordable, reliable, clean power to run our homes, businesses, and growing tech sector is squarely part of that fight.

But to ensure this is the case, Congress must fix a broken federal permitting system.

The existing federal permitting process is convoluted and time-consuming. Several different agencies and statutes play a role. One of the most important pieces of the puzzle, environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), are currently averaging 4.5 years across a variety of projects.

And that’s only one step. To get a new clean energy project online could take a decade. And as prices rise and capacity needs grow, that's time we don't have.

Notably, this timeline doesn’t account for bad-faith terminations or project pauses that could further stall the process. As we saw in 2025 and early 2026, the Trump administration's ability to unilaterally pause already-permitted projects threw a wrench into permitting as a whole.

Despite the blockade ending and negotiations resuming, the risk of further action underscores the necessity for Congress to pass bipartisan permitting reform.

Federal permitting reform would speed up project timelines, protect already-permitted projects, and ensure that future projects, particularly clean energy projects, compete on equal terms. We could then build the clean energy infrastructure we need. At the same time, new jobs could be created as a standardized permitting process enables energy companies to invest with confidence, knowing projects will be built.

Importantly, it would mean that the capacity our state needs is built before we need it. Without a change, by the time we get enough capacity online, Arizonans will have already spent years paying more for their utilities or suffering from rolling blackouts as the grid can’t keep up.

Arizona has shown the rest of the country what's possible when policymakers take an all-of-the-above approach to energy and prioritize getting new projects online. But state-level action can only go so far when federal permitting delays continue to slow projects and drive up costs.

Governor Hobbs's task force laid out a clear roadmap for expanding our energy capacity and creating jobs here at home. Now it's up to Congress to do its part.

Permitting reform isn't a partisan issue. It's about making sure Arizona and the country have the power we need to grow.