Feds Aim to Speed Approval of Infrastructure

The federal government is on track to invest $1.2 trillion to
overhaul American infrastructure, with $80 billion headed to the
electric grid. In this episode of Grid Talk, we talk with
Christine Harada who is the Executive Director of the Federal
Permitting Improvement Steering Council. It was created in 2015
to help facilitate government approvals of major projects.


“I want to make sure that we’re putting boots on the ground—that
we have the construction workers who are there and actually
making the infrastructure happen,” Harada said.


The impact of the council’s work is significant and
measurable. 


“We have found that we were able to decrease the overall
timeframe by upwards of 2-2½ years just simply because of the
transparency provided by the dashboard and by the activities that
this Council takes on to be able to help negotiate and review and
resolve challenges.” 


As for transmission projects, Harada hopes to trim approval times
by at least 10 percent. 


“I am an overachiever so I would love to achieve something like
25%. I think that’s certainly just within the federal agencies’
realm of control, 10% is a great target. Working with state and
local entities, I think that something like a 25% reduction would
be a great stretch target.”


Harada was named Executive Director in July of 2021. She will
manage a portfolio of nearly $60 billion in large-scale
infrastructure projects—most of which are renewable energy,
coastal restoration, and electricity transmission. Harada will
lead 13 federal agencies, state agencies, and project sponsors to
develop and implement project-specific timetables for all
required reviews and authorizations.


Harada holds a master's degree in international studies from the
University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in finance from the Wharton
School at Penn. Additionally, she has a master's degree from
Stanford University and a bachelor's degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and
astronautics.