More than 300 solar and storage industry companies have called on Congress to pass the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), S. 5653, according to a letter sent to congressional leadership. The companies cited outdated federal permitting processes and grid infrastructure constraints as major obstacles preventing the timely deployment of energy projects and contributing to higher electricity costs.
The solar and storage sectors have demonstrated substantial growth in 2026, accounting for 70% of new electricity capacity additions to the grid. However, the industry notes that approximately $120 billion in clean energy investments remain delayed due to permitting bottlenecks. The proposed legislation has been positioned as a necessary step to remove these barriers and accelerate project development.
The BAAJA bill would implement several key reforms to the federal permitting framework, including standardizing treatment across different energy technologies, safeguarding previously issued permits from political interference, establishing clear timelines for federal reviews and court proceedings, updating transmission infrastructure planning approaches, and broadening distributed energy resources’ participation in wholesale electricity markets.
Analysis conducted by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) projects that the bill’s provisions could enable an additional 167 gigawatts of solar capacity installation between 2028 and 2035, potentially raising solar’s share of U.S. electricity generation to over 18% by that year. According to the modeling, these reforms could decrease cumulative power sector carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 20% and reduce anticipated public health costs by approximately $54 billion.
The industry push for permitting reform coincides with heightened public concern about energy affordability demonstrated during recent midterm elections. SEIA, the national trade association for the solar and solar plus storage industries, emphasized that permitting modernization is essential to meeting growing energy demand while making renewable projects more accessible and cost-effective.
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