Please join the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center on Wednesday, May 24 at 9:30 a.m. EDT / 15:30 CET for a discussion on permitting reform in the United States and European Union and the lessons each jurisdiction can offer the other.

Permitting is essential to manage the environmental and social impacts of project development, but reform is necessary to avoid the long delays that have slowed the pace of the energy transition. In the United States, the transmission line permitting process can take 5 to 10 years or longer, with 10,262 generation projects awaiting interconnection approval at the end of 2022 according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

In the European Union, similar delays have hindered clean energy deployment. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission unveiled emergency permitting measures to rapidly build new renewable energy infrastructure to address the energy crisis. Meanwhile in the United States, the House passed permitting legislation, the Senate is considering whether to develop its own legislation, and several federal agencies are undergoing a review of their procedures. A critical examination of the EU and US cases could help yield strategies for effective reform in the permitting of renewable energy and transmission infrastructure. Speeding up the permitting process is a key part of the transition to renewable energy but must be done correctly to mitigate social or environmental harm.

This conversation will take place on Zoom and will be broadcast on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.