Key Takeaways
- •Witnesses testified that federal permitting delays for vegetation management on rights-of-way increase wildfire risks and drive up electricity costs, urging the Senate to pass the Fix Our Forests Act.
- •Jason Bowling (CEO, Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative) stated that a routine maintenance project took 15 years to permit despite the physical work only requiring eight weeks to complete.
- •Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) asked for the most impactful reform, leading Mason Baker (CEO and General Manager, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems) to advocate for new statutory categorical exclusions.
- •Rep. Jared Huffman (D, CA-2) argued that instead of new laws, the committee should conduct oversight on why the administration’s staffing cuts have hindered existing agency permitting authorities.
- •The subcommittee emphasized that without streamlined federal approvals, utilities face bankruptcy-level liabilities and ratepayers will continue to see significant rate hikes to cover wildfire mitigation and insurance.
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Hearing Analysis
Overview
The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held an oversight hearing on February 24, 2026, titled “Bureaucratic Delays and the Costs to Ratepayers and Electric Power Systems.” Chaired by Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), the hearing focused on how federal land management policies, primarily those of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), create permitting bottlenecks for electric utilities. These delays were characterized by witnesses and Republican members as significant drivers of wildfire risk, grid instability, and rising electricity costs for consumers. The primary legislative focus was the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA), which passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate.
Key Testimony
Witnesses from the utility sector provided several accounts of extreme delays. Jim Anderson, CEO and General Manager of Midstate Electric Cooperative, testified that his organization has faced the same permitting hurdles for 30 years. He highlighted the 2024 Darlene 3 fire, noting that while the Forest Service cleared trees after the fire, it left hazard trees adjacent to power lines, taking another year to authorize their removal at the cooperative's expense. Jason Bowling, CEO of Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC), detailed a 15-year permitting process for a routine pole replacement and vegetation management project in Arizona’s Fairbanks corridor; the physical work took only eight weeks once approved, but compliance costs reached $500,000.
Overview
The hearing examined specific policy tools, including Section 512 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), which was intended to expedite vegetation management. Rep. Hageman and several witnesses noted that the Forest Service and BLM have failed to establish the categorical exclusions (CEs) required by that 2018 law. Randy S. Howard, General Manager of the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA), urged the agencies to utilize Section 109 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to adopt existing CEs from other agencies. He also noted that wildfires not caused by utilities still impact the grid, citing instances where post-fire sediment surges from federal lands damaged NCPA hydropower infrastructure.
Mason Baker, CEO and General Manager of Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), raised the issue of strict liability. He argued that utilities are often held liable for fires sparked by hazard trees that federal agencies refused to let them remove. He noted that PacifiCorp increased transmission rates to UAMPS by 40 percent in 2024, largely due to wildfire liability costs. Jesse Murray, Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery at NV Energy, discussed the difficulty of maintaining "pre-NEPA" infrastructure, noting it is often easier to permit a new line than to perform maintenance on an existing one due to inconsistent interpretations of the Resilient Corridor Decision Memo across different national forests.
Key Testimony
Representing the labor perspective, George Arhos of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) emphasized that permitting delays disrupt work schedules, leading to safety risks for line crews. He advocated for the training standards found in California’s Senate Bill 247 as a model for the industry. Christina Hayes, Executive Director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG), testified on the broader need for interregional transmission. She noted that the cost of a transmission line can increase by a third for every year of delay, citing the New England Clean Energy Connect as an example. She suggested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) should serve as a "one-stop shop" for siting multi-state lines, similar to its role for natural gas pipelines.
Dr. Carolyn Mahan, a professor at Pennsylvania State University representing the Right-of-Way Stewardship Council, provided an ecological perspective. She advocated for Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM), which uses native, low-growing plants to create stable habitats that resist tall-tree encroachment and invasive species. She argued that while mowing is a common practice, IVM is more cost-effective over time and reduces wildfire fuel loads.
Overview
Partisan dynamics were evident throughout the hearing. Republicans, led by Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR-4) and Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR-2), argued that "bureaucratic red tape" and a lack of common sense in federal agencies are the primary obstacles. They pushed for the Senate to pass FOFA, which would expand the authority to clear hazard trees from 10 feet to 150 feet from the right-of-way. Democrats, including Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D, CA-2) and Rep. Val Hoyle (D, OR-4), countered that the Trump administration’s staffing cuts have hollowed out the agencies. Rep. Hoyle cited Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data showing the Forest Service and BLM lost over 4,500 staff in 2025, arguing that there are not enough foresters or engineers left to process permits. Rep. Dave Min (D, CA-47) also emphasized the role of climate change in increasing fire risk and noted that China is expanding its grid much faster than the United States.
Notable exchanges included a "lightning round" where Rep. Hageman asked all utility witnesses to name their top priority, with most citing categorical exclusions and streamlined permitting timelines. Rep. Jeff Crank (R-CO-5) highlighted the plight of Mountain Parks Electric, Inc. (MPEI), which has waited since 2022 for a permit for a federally funded mitigation project. He also criticized the Forest Service for requiring timber sales as a condition for removing hazard trees, a requirement that Mason Baker confirmed acts as a significant barrier for organizations like Colorado Springs Utilities.
Transcript
Good morning, everyone. I want to welcome members, witnesses, and our guests in the audience today. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the subcommittee at any time. Under committee rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at hearings are limited to the chair and the ranking member. I therefore ask unanimous consent that all other members' opening statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted in accordance with committee rule 3(o). Without objection, so ordered. We are here today to hold an oversight hearing titled, "Bureaucratic Delays and the Costs to Ratepayers and the Electric Power Systems." I now recognize myself for a five-minute opening statement. Today, the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hear from electric power system experts on how current management policies for electricity rights-of-way on federal lands are disjointed, inconsistent, and too often dependent on the unilateral decisions of local land managers. Permitting delays for right-of-way management on federal land creates unnecessary wildfire risk across the West, jeopardizes public safety, drives up electricity costs, and decreases electricity reliability. Nearly 90,000 miles of electricity rights-of-way are located on U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management lands and are necessary to deliver reliable and affordable electricity to communities across the western United States. Unfortunately, restrictive policies and untimely decision-making by federal land managers have handcuffed utilities across the West, substantially restricting their ability to implement much-needed and site-specific vegetation management activities. The result is a greater risk of catastrophic wildfire and a more hazardous environment for the men and women who work each day to reduce the wildfire risk for the American public. These disasters are preventable if the federal government can get out of the way. We have two primary land management agencies, the Forest Service and BLM, that oversee most of the electric rights-of-way on federal lands. The subcommittee has heard from utilities that the permitting process can vary widely from unit to unit within the National Forest System and even more so across the two separate agencies. These issues are not new. In 2018, Congress added a new section 512 to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. This provision of law allowed electric utilities to manage vegetation within 10 feet of the right-of-way and required the agencies to identify categories of actions that do not require the preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, otherwise known as categorical exclusions. Despite this statutory requirement, neither agency has identified nor established any new categorical exclusions to expedite approvals for vegetation management in and adjacent to utility rights-of-way, and the utilities continue to report delays and inconsistency. The Fix Our Forests Act, led by Chairman Westerman, would make several improvements to the current scope of section 512 of FLPMA by expanding the authority to clear hazardous trees from within 10 feet of the right-of-way to 150 feet. The legislation would also establish a new categorical exclusion for the development of vegetation management plans and activities carried out consistent with those plans. The bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act still awaits a vote in the Senate more than one year after passing out of the House of Representatives. We urgently need to provide federal land managers and utilities the tools to manage our forests to reduce the frequency and intensity of wildfire in the West, and the time is now to act. I am pleased to be joined by our witnesses representing the electric power sector and the employees who carry out the essential work that powers America. Today, we will hear numerous real-life examples from these witnesses of unnecessary bureaucratic delays and inconsistencies encountered by those who are simply trying to keep the lights on. These stories speak to a national problem. Bureaucratic delays not only increase costs and corresponding electricity rates for customers, but also delay wildfire mitigation projects, putting communities and the bulk power system at further risk. With that, I want to thank all of our witnesses for joining us today, and I recognize that you all had to overcome this weekend's winter storm and travel disruptions to be with us. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Ralph Armstrong with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, who was unable to join us due to several flight cancellations despite his best efforts. I am especially grateful for Mr. Arhos with the IBEW, who agreed to join us at the last minute to deliver Mr. Armstrong's prepared remarks and ensure that the perspective of the men and women on the front lines would remain part of today's hearing. Thank you all, and I look forward to hearing your testimony. I now recognize the ranking member for his opening statement.
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