Should Congress override the Department of Energy's new efficiency standards for household appliances?
This resolution is meant to block a rule issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) that deals with energy efficiency standards for certain household appliances and commercial equipment. The rule set new requirements for manufacturers to certify, label, and comply with energy conservation standards. However, Congress is using its authority under the Congressional Review Act to reject the rule, meaning it would not go into effect.
Sponsor: Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (Republican, Georgia, District 9)
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Opponents say
• "The Department of Energy (DOE), through the Buildings Technologies Office, sets minimum energy efficiency standards for approximately 60 categories of appliances and equipment used in homes, businesses, and other applications, as required by existing law. The appliances and equipment covered provide services that are used by consumers and businesses each day, such as space heating and cooling, refrigeration, cooking, clothes washing and drying, and lighting. DOE's minimum efficiency standards significantly reduce U.S. energy demand, lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and save consumers billions of dollars every year, without lessening the vital services provided by these products. In addition, DOE implements laws designed to limit the water consumption of several plumbing products." Source: Department of Energy
• "The fastest and most affordable way to get our country’s energy use under control is to make our homes, businesses and communities more energy efficient. Requiring appliances in our homes and businesses to meet basic efficiency standards saves energy, saves money and reduces pollution. As of August 2024, the Department of Energy under the Biden Administration has updated efficiency standards for about two dozen products. In a new analysis, the Appliance Standards Awareness Project and PIRG estimate that these standards will save a typical U.S. household $107 each year on average over the next two decades, with savings ranging from $67 to $285 depending on the state. Business owners across the United States will collectively save an average of more than $2 billion annually. These standards will also reduce harmful air pollution and water waste." Source: PIRG (Public Interest Research Groups)
Proponents say
• "The agency states that this new way of quantifying the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions would “reflect the best available scientific and analytical evidence and methodologies,” and thus is the most appropriate one to use going forward. The new methodology takes several already-dubious assumptions in IWG 2021 and stretches them further. For one category of commercial refrigeration equipment covered in the proposed rule, DOE calculates the climate benefits of $48-$320 million dollars under IWG 2021 but a whopping $564-$1,713 million under the new way. That’s around 5-10 times higher. The mere fact that the supposedly best available methodology can change so precipitously puts the lie to any notion that this is rock-solid science we are dealing with. If the social cost of greenhouse gas numbers that DOE thought were the best available until now turn out to be as much as an order of magnitude too low, it is high time to scrap this phony exercise rather than use it to burden the American people with yet more costly appliance regulations." Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
• "DOE’s final rules ban the sale of non-condensing natural gas furnaces and commercial water heaters. The consumer furnace rule affects 55 percent of U.S. households and impacts senior-only households, low-income households and small business consumers disproportionately. However, EPCA explicitly forbids the department from promulgating any standard that is likely to result in the unavailability in the United States of any product type of performance characteristics that is already on the market (i.e. products such as all non-condensing natural gas furnaces with a specific venting design feature). DOE also failed to demonstrate that the new standards are “economically justified” as required by EPCA. While one subset of the statistical modeling relied on the assumption that customers always disregard their own economic interests when purchasing a gas furnace or water heater, another portion of the modeling assumed that all customers always act in exact accordance with their economic interests when purchasing electric equipment. As a result, DOE exaggerated the claimed energy and cost savings of its rules." Source: American Gas Association
