King Asks Energy Secretary How Canceling Approved, Permitted Renewable Projects Promotes Certainty in Marketplace

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR), today criticized the Administration for creating uncertainty by canceling approved clean energy projects - especially ones actively under construction. In an ENR hearing, King pressed Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Christopher Wright on the current administration's decisions to revoke energy permits as there is bipartisan agreement that America's energy portfolio must increase across the board to improve the cost of living.

Senator King began, "Do you feel that certainty is important in permitting and that is an important quality we need to be able to move permitting faster, that is correct, isn't it?"

"Yes," Secretary Wright agreed.

"How do you feel about offshore wind projects being canceled that were fully permitted and under construction? What does that say about certainty for investment?" Senator King continued.

"I will come back- there is some complexities to that issue, both with security concerns with drones that we learned more recently on the wars-," Secretary Wright started.

"Isn't that a risk of the developer?" Senator King asked.

"It is a risk I think we need to manage with the developer just to make sure we are not introducing a critical vulnerability off of our east coast population. To your broader point, yes, Senator, I believe we need the parties to come together, we need a robust dialogue about that, and we need to deliver more certainty-," Secretary Wright answered.

"The idea of getting all of your permits, going through the process, being under construction and having the government say you can't do this, you wouldn't like that very much if you were in that position, is that correct?" Senator King asked.

"That is correct," Secretary Wright responded.

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator King is a national leader in advocating for climate solutions that support Maine communities and has been one of the Senate's most vocal advocates for improving renewable energy technologies and development as a way to unlock America's clean energy future. He has repeatedly emphasized the importance of permitting reform to unlocking the promise of clean energy development opportunities created in the historic Inflation Reduction Act . He has stressed the importance of streamlining and speeding project timelines while maintaining environmental standards to the Secretaries of Energy and Interior.

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