Technology giant Google has hired a lobbying firm to push its interests as Congress takes on overhauling the federal permitting process.
Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid disclosed Friday that it had signed Google, a unit of Alphabet, to lobby on “issues related to permitting reform.” The lobbyists working on Google’s behalf include David Peluso, the former chief of staff to then-Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the onetime chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Google, along with other major tech companies, has been engaged with lawmakers on permitting this year, and it supported the “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act,” H.R. 4776, which passed the House this month with mainly Republican support.
The technology giant is one of the largest operators of data centers and buys significant amounts of electricity to run them amid the artificial intelligence boom. House passage of the “SPEED Act,” which would limit National Environmental Policy Act reviews, was meant to be just one step in talks toward a broader deal on permitting and bolstering the grid.
