Power transmission deal being considered in US debt limit talks

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - A bill to boost power transmission between U.S. regions is being considered as part of talks between White House and congressional Republicans to raise the debt ceiling, two sources with knowledge of the talks said.

The measure from Senator John Hickenlooper and Representative Scott Peters, both Democrats, requires U.S. regions to have the capacity to transfer at least 30% of their peak electricity demand between each other.

The measure could be paired with slight changes to the bedrock U.S. environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, according to the sources, which include one in the Senate and one at the White House.

NEPA governs environmental reviews of projects such as roads and pipelines, but has been decried by Republicans for adding years to the timeline for approving works. The potential deal was first reported by the Wash...
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