Politico reported Thursday that negotiations around increasing the debt ceiling, which were already considering permitting reform, might include a bill written by Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) to foster the building of interregional electricity transmission. Interregional transmission capacity can increase grid reliability, support new generation resources, and lower costs for end users (businesses and residential consumers) of electricity.

The proposal would require grid operators, or regions, to “be able to transfer at least 30% of their peak demand between each other.” This means grid operators would have to expand existing or build new transmission lines with their immediate neighbors to help balance the power grid.