Nine federal departments and agencies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to make it faster and simpler to build transmission lines on Federal lands. The goal of the agreement is to speed approval of new transmission lines, reduce expense and uncertainty in the process, generate cost savings, increase accessibility to renewable energy and jumpstart job creation.

The agreement “will help break down the bureaucratic barriers that currently make it slow and costly to build new transmission lines on federal lands,” according to President Obama.

The MOU has been signed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and Department of the Interior.

“The process of siting and permitting new transmission lines on federal lands has posed a barrier to efficient grid enhancements. Under President Obama’s leadership, we want to expand and modernize our nation’s transmission grid so we can access renewable energy sources, improve reliability, and reduce grid congestion. This is part of a comprehensive effort to create a clean energy future that also promotes energy efficiency and conservation,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

“To build America's clean energy economy we must update our transmission grid for the 21st century, so that we can efficiently move power from the new energy frontier to the places it is consumed," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “The common-sense reforms in this MOU will help bring the federal house in order by improving coordination among agencies, cutting red tape, and by making transmission siting on public lands more sensible and straightforward. This MOU also recognizes DOI's key role in ensuring that transmission siting is done in a way that protects America's natural and cultural heritage, and in consultation with tribal nations.”

“This new agreement will make government more efficient and improve the transmission of electricity to communities across the country as we move toward achieving a nationwide smart grid,” said Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.