Federal Permitting Council Introduces Faster Data Center Permitting Process
In alignment with President Trump’s goals, the council is working on new data center projects through a streamlined process.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2026 – Permitting Council Executive Director Emily Domenech said the federal agency is set to work with a California geothermal energy data center project through a new streamlined strategy.
Domenech said she’s been working on permitting efficiency through a new system that lists projects as one, instead of three discrete projects. That ensures that it doesn’t have to go through multiple reviews. Traditionally, she said, projects were permitted separately, with a power plant, transmission line and data center.
The Permitting Council’s new strategy works on a Gantt chart and timetable working in parallel. Domenech said this saved 25 percent of the time per project.
Through a separate project page for each infrastructure plan, the Permitting Council organizes what’s been completed including upcoming milestones and information about the lead agency.
“I’m really confident we’re going to have some good agreements to tell you about the next few months,” Domenech said.
Another part of streamlining permitting is to work with states to start the process at the same time as the federal agency. By sharing data and studies, Domenech said the process for projects to be approved can be fast-tracked, claiming that she does not “have time to wait for a state until I’m done with a project to start their work.”
Domenech said the council’s strategy aligned with the Trump administration’s goal of building much more new infrastructure and data centers in the next three years. And she said she wanted to recreate this process at the state and local levels.
Domenech also emphasized her commitment to protecting the environment while still building technological infrastructure, saying that it is “just completely false” that both can’t be true.
Additionally, she attributed a key part of the momentum behind the council to President Donald Trump’s prioritization of permitting. That has allowed her to make more progress with White House executive orders.
Domenech also said it was vital for permitting, and judicial review of decisions, to move faster.
“Congress has to address the standing issue and the timeline issue for litigation, because otherwise, we simply are never going to beat China in any of these areas because it has a stranglehold on our industry,” Domenech said.
Member discussion