Capital Connections - January 2026

Legislative Update

Leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly have indicated that they will not hold any floor votes until April. The House and Senate are still working on a budget compromise after being the only state legislature to not pass a budget in 2025. In the meantime, legislators will likely focus on campaigning and plan to hold a few interim committee meetings, and the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy is anticipated to meet in February.

ElectriCities’ Government Affairs team will continue to monitor developments from the executive and legislative branches. Please contact us with any questions.

Rhian Ray

Goverment Affairs Manager

Dalton Ashworth

Government Affairs Associate

Leah Kirby

Senior Copywriter

Duke Submits Permit for New Nuclear Site

Duke Energy has submitted an early site permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a potential new nuclear development near its Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County, North Carolina. The technology-neutral permit, the first of its kind for the company, is intended to confirm the site’s suitability for future nuclear generation and reduce regulatory risk if a project moves forward. The application includes six potential reactor technologies, focusing on advanced and small modular reactors, and excludes traditional large light-water reactors. While no final decision to build has been made, Duke said an approved permit would potentially add about 600 megawatts of advanced nuclear capacity by 2037, with the first unit possibly operating by 2036.

Lumbee Tribe Federally Recognized

Last month, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA), a $900 billion defense spending package that included the Lumbee Fairness Act. President Trump signed the bill into law during an event at the White House, granting the Lumbee Tribe full federal recognition after more than a century of seeking it.

With roughly 55,000 members, this North Carolina tribe is the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi River, and this recognition provides access to a wide range of federal services and support.

Among those services is access to health care through Indian Health Service, as well as funding and programs administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribe may apply to place land into federal trust under the Department of the Interior, allowing them to pursue housing and economic development opportunities.

Read more here.

U.S. House Passes Notable Permitting Reform Bills

In the past month, the U.S. House has passed an array of permitting reform bills aimed at reducing regulatory burdens and streamlining permitting and review processes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate remains gridlocked on permitting reform, with Democrats saying negotiations stalled following offshore wind project cancellations

The SPEED Act would streamline the National Environmental Policy Act by narrowing the scope of environmental reviews, enabling public power utilities to build and maintain infrastructure that ensures reliable, affordable electric service. It would also establish judicial review timelines and requirements designed to prevent lawsuits from delaying projects long-term.

This bill passed the House and has been referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works in the Senate.

The PERMIT Act would reform the Clean Water Act to streamline and expedite the permitting process. The legislation would provide public power utilities with a clearer, more predictable path for projects involving work in or near federal waters. The bill’s updates to Section 401 reviews, the Nationwide Permit Program, and judicial timelines are expected to help reduce delays and improve planning for utility infrastructure.

This bill passed the House and has been referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works in the Senate.

The Reliable Power Act would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a formal role in determining and mitigating the potential reliability impacts of federal regulations whenever the North American Electric Reliability Corporation finds that the bulk-power system is at risk.

This bill passed the House and has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the Senate.

The American Public Power Association supported all three bills, emphasizing their importance in strengthening the nation’s energy infrastructure and improving regulatory efficiency. ElectriCities has expressed its appreciation to Rep. Don Davis (NC-1) for his leadership and support of both the PERMIT Act and the SPEED Act, noting that his efforts help advance policies that strengthen reliability and affordability in public power communities.

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026

Congress recently enacted the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, a $900 billion defense spending package that includes several major energy provisions that signal a growing federal effort to expand nuclear energy development.

Key elements for public power utilities include new planning requirements, pilot programs for small modular reactors, and directives that could eventually lead to nuclear projects on military installations connecting to the commercial grid, with coordination to support grid reliability and long‑term energy planning.

As the military explores nuclear technologies to strengthen energy security and resilience, utilities may see new partnership opportunities, as well as potential operational impacts.

U.S. House and Senate Appropriators Approve Multiple Spending Packages

Congressional appropriators have released new agreements for annual spending bills, packaged as two separate “minibus” packages for fiscal year 2026. These announcements mark the advancement of funding across all 12 bills for the full fiscal year 2026.

For public power utilities, the most meaningful pieces in the first package are in the Energy and Water Development bill, which maintains stable funding for the Power Marketing Administrations and directs substantial resources toward grid infrastructure. Notably, $400 million is provided for the Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office, with most of it dedicated to strengthening domestic manufacturing of distribution transformers and other essential grid components, addressing supply chain challenges facing public power systems.

The first package also includes major investments in wildland fire management and provides more than $7.5 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, supporting programs that help states and local utilities manage pollution control and resilience planning.

The latest package, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, includes funding for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, Transportation (DOT), and Housing and Urban Development.

The package funds HHS at nearly $117 billion, which includes a $20 million increase for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), that would bring the total amount appropriated for LIHEAP for fiscal year 2026 to just over $4 billion. Back in November, HHS released 90% of LIHEAP funds to states to aid in winter heating costs. If the new package becomes law, HHS will disburse the additional $20 million to states, along with the remaining 10% in the spring.

This new package also includes $10 million for the Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant Program. The program, administered by DOT, would fund the use of unmanned aircraft systems to inspect and maintain critical public infrastructure, which includes key energy infrastructure such as substations, transmission systems, dams, and telecommunications assets.

These packages reflect a bipartisan interest in reinforcing the nation’s energy systems, improving grid reliability, and supporting the infrastructure public power utilities rely on to serve their communities.