America’s power grid has fallen behind demand, but not for lack of trying. There are $1.5 trillion in infrastructure projects awaiting permits to move forward in America, many of them related to the power grid.
Just yesterday, the Trump administration was forced to declare a power grid emergency in the nation’s largest grid, the PJM Interconnection. The problem occurred because hot weather drove many residents of the grid’s network area to turn on their air conditioning, but the grid operators had already shut down some of the power plants it uses during the summer to meet air conditioning demand. The plants were closed for maintenance, without sufficient backup power. Fox News reports:
Jeff Shields, a spokesperson for PJM, said electricity demand is growing faster than new generating capacity can come online, while unpredictable weather is leaving fewer opportunities for critical maintenance and construction.
Shields added that planned maintenance periods now present reliability risks that grid operators previously faced primarily during summer and winter.
But with new power infrastructure caught in a backlog of endless permitting, it’s going to be difficult to meet the needs power grids like PJM are facing. But there’s a sliver of hope this could be fixed, or at least alleviated. Travis Fisher and Michael Abi-Nader explain at the Cato Institute that bipartisan support is building around permitting reform, and it could happen soon. They write:
America has big plans. Getting permission to build a big project is another story. The new Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, or BAAJA (pronounced like, and just as bold and refreshing as, Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast), aims to remove political barriers that keep projects on hold. Senators Capito (R‑WV), Lee (R‑UT), Whitehouse (D‑RI), and Heinrich (D‑NM) introduced the bill text—a whopping 417 pages—on September 30. BAAJA builds on previous reform efforts, such as Manchin-Barrasso’s EPRA in 2024 and this term’s SPEED and PERMIT Acts. Unlike earlier efforts, BAAJA is already gaining strong bipartisan support, giving it a fighting chance to clear the Senate’s 60-vote requirement when it reconvenes the week of November 9.
This moment is different for myriad reasons—electricity demand growth is reaching levels not seen this century, costly Biden-era energy subsidies have mostly been cut or curtailed, and Democrats now understand how much damage a president can inflict when he despises certain forms of energy. The Keystone XL oil pipeline was the poster child for Democrats’ arbitrary cancellation of major energy projects under Presidents Obama and Biden, and Trump has spent his second term applying the same playbook to solar and wind projects.
And the stakes are high. Consulting firm McKinsey estimated in 2025 that up to $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment was awaiting federal permits. A survey by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Foundation for American Innovation found that nearly two-thirds of respondents would likely increase US investment if permitting were faster and more predictable. Permitting reform matters because we all pay more than we need to for basic energy services. Reducing the political risk premium by making energy projects less subject to political whims is a no-brainer answer to concerns about energy affordability.
BAAJA could be the most impactful energy bill since the Energy Policy Act of 2005. What follows is our analysis of the most significant reforms.
Action Line: For Americans’ standard of living, and to smooth the way for the nuclear renaissance and other power infrastructure investments, America needs permitting reform. Maybe the partisan forces in Congress and the Senate can come together long enough to allow Americans to build the infrastructure they need. Click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
P.S. You can protect your family from uneven power flows by putting some power away in your pantry.
