SPEEDing into the New Year
December 19, 2025
Need to know
- Check out TEA’s website for the latest in energy news and opinion.
- Afternoon TEA: 12 Facts of Energy Affordability.
- Want cheaper gas? End California’s special recipe.
- NY Assemblyman urges Hochul to veto natural gas pipeline bill.
- Opinion: Climate litigation hands China a strategic victory.
- Blue states have higher electricity rates than red states, data shows.
- Ford retreats from EVs, takes $19.5 billion charge as Trump policies take hold.
- New England eyes Canada for energy as US offshore wind flounders.
- The U.S. wants the EU to exempt its LNG from methane regulation.
- Massachusetts regulators launch new scrutiny of utility bills.
- New York realizes it cannot afford its green promises.
- House passes Balderson bill to bolster grid reliability.
Common sense
HELPING BUILD AMERICA AGAIN: The House passed the bipartisan Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act 221–196, a smart step toward fixing a broken permitting system. Authored by Reps. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Jared Golden (D-ME), the SPEED Act narrows environmental review, shortens court challenges and speeds approvals for critical infrastructure.
The House also passed the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act, streamlining permits for interstate natural gas pipelines to meet growing energy needs. This marks a pivotal step in reshaping the permitting process for this valuable transportation vehicle.
Why it matters: Energy demand is rising faster than supply. The solution is really simple — build more. Power plants, pipelines, roads and grid upgrades are essential to meeting demand and keeping energy affordable.
Consider:
- Together, these bills mean faster permits, more construction, and stronger economic growth — proof the “Build, Baby, Build” agenda is being executed.
- Executive orders aren’t enough; lasting legislation is needed to deliver long-term results.
- Proposals like Rep. Troy Balderson’s ARC Energy Security bill would help lock in future progress, regardless of who’s in office.
Energy industry leaders and manufacturers agree. API President Mike Sommers said these bills “unlock the infrastructure America needs for affordable, reliable energy.”
Traditionally, interstate pipeline projects have faced delays due to multiple layers of regulatory oversight, particularly involving water quality certifications under the Clean Water Act.
NEPA red tape has slowed America for too long. Permitting reform is essential to build pipelines, LNG terminals, and grid upgrades, especially as AI and data centers drive soaring electricity demand.
Bottom line: Recently passed permitting reform bills will make it easier to build in America, win the AI race and keep power affordable for working families.
Nonsense
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH BILLS: Colorado residents are facing high energy bills after regulators turned from natural gas, experts say.
Why it matters: Some 1.9 million Colorado households warm their homes each winter using gas. That’s also how tens of thousands of businesses heat their buildings. But that could change significantly in the near term under an order handed down by the state’s 3-person Public Utilities Commission.
Sheer lunacy. Maybe they were taking advantage of the state’s liberal marijuana laws before voting.
Consider:
- About 1.9 million Colorado households warm their homes each winter using gas.
- That’s also how tens of thousands of businesses heat their buildings. But that could change significantly under an order handed down by the state’s 3-person Public Utilities Commission.
- The only way to reduce carbon that much is by switching out the gas-fired furnaces, stoves, and appliances of 600,000 customers and changing them to electric heating. And the consumer would foot the bill.
That’s according to the Colorado Energy Office, one of two state agencies that cautioned the utility commission against its final decision.
Policy experts and advocates were all ears on Dec. 1, when energy regulators ordered Xcel Energy — the state’s biggest utility company — and other non-municipal utilities to slash their carbon output by 41% by 2035 as a step toward a 100% carbon-free future fired by solar and wind.
It seems Colorado officials are making another major push toward electrifying home heating and deep cuts in carbon emissions from natural gas, despite consumer cost concerns and the Trump administration’s attempt to revive the use of hydrocarbons.
Here’s the kicker: Bold long-term planning is necessary, environmental advocates say, to avoid utilities charging consumers to invest in “stranded” assets like gas pipelines and distribution systems that will soon be obsolete—or rendered unusable by clean energy regulations.
Bottom line:Data shows that natural gas is the most affordable fuel for home heating, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. States like Colorado who restrict access to gas are driving up energy costs for their residents.
A look ahead
Nothing for the calendar next week with the Christmas holiday. From everyone at TEA, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Common Sense Energy will resume its normal schedule in January 2026.
Quote of the week
“Meaningful permitting reform is an absolute requirement for America’s future prosperity, competitiveness, and security … yet there is a big risk Congress will fail to pass it.”