Dive Brief:
- Consumer advocates say two bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this week could keep energy-guzzling appliances on shelves and eliminate rebates for low- and moderate-income earners to make their homes more efficient. Proponents of the legislation say it gives consumers greater choice and savings.
- The House on Tuesday voted 217-190 to advance H.R. 4626, the Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act, which would limit the U.S. Department of Energy’s ability to set new appliance energy efficiency standards and would require swift payback periods.
- And on Wednesday, the lower chamber voted 210-199 for H.R. 4758, the Homeowner Energy Freedom Act, which would repeal a $4.5 billion program helping homeowners install insulation, heat pumps and other energy saving upgrades, and do away with grants for states and local governments to adopt more efficient building codes.
Dive Insight:
Efficiency advocates say the legislation passed out of the House this week could add billions to residential and commercial utility bills, while lawmakers and manufacturers say it will cut upfront costs and give consumers greater choice.
“The American people do not need the federal government to tell them which household appliances will best meet the needs of their families,” Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., the sponsor of H.R. 4626, said in a statement.
The bill targets the DOE’s appliance efficiency program, which requires the agency to review and propose standards for a range of products every six years — and if justified, to finalize a new standard two years after that.
According to efficiency advocates, H.R. 4626 would create uncertainty for product manufacturers by directing DOE to reevaluate standards within two years of being finalized or in response to a petition. It would also prohibit DOE from updating a standard if it would save less than 0.3 quadrillion Btu of energy and reduce energy or water use by less than 10%.
The bill would further restrict DOE from setting an appliance standard if the upfront cost would not be paid back within three years. And it would eliminate a regular review cycle that DOE uses to update its standards based on technological advances, though observers note it does not strip away the agency’s ability to set new standards through a voluntary review.
According to the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, U.S. households would have paid about $6,000 more on utility bills over the last decade, on average, if national efficiency standards weren’t in place.
“Stalling efficiency progress and even going backward would only increase utility bills for families struggling with high costs today,” said ASAP Executive Director Andrew deLaski. “This bill would keep old, energy-wasting technologies on the market, increasing strain on the electric grid and locking in higher energy costs.”
Dylan Jaff, a sustainability policy analyst at Consumer Reports, said he was disappointed with the House vote.
“Weakening these standards will contribute to higher energy costs for everyday consumers,” Jaff said in an email. “Efficiency rules are incredibly popular because they save families money on their utility bills.”
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association hailed the legislation, saying it would save consumers money and result in better products.
The bill “provides much needed reforms to federal efficiency regulations by combining a common-sense approach with outcomes-based policy,” said NEMA President and CEO Debra Phillips. “Removing the arbitrary six-year review mandate incentivizes electrical manufacturers to make research, development, and production investment decisions in alignment with their customers’ needs.”
There is not yet a companion bill in the Senate and observers say they expect changes in order to gain support from some Democrats.
A companion bill to H.R. 4758 was introduced by Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., in January. The bill would repeal sections of the Inflation Reduction Act that include the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program and which provide grants for home energy efficiency contractor training and for states and local governments to adopt the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code.
“These rebates are beginning to help families around the country make home energy upgrades that cut their utility bills,” Jennifer Layke, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said in a statement. “Pulling the rug out from under this program as so many face rising energy costs is callous. It is a blow to affordability.”
But home builders say compliance with the new code could mean increased costs of up to $31,000 for a new home, the builders group said.
Compliance “would make it much harder for home builders and multifamily developers to build housing that is available and affordable for American families,” the National Association of Home Builders said in a statement.
In a statement, Sheehy said his bill will help address “skyrocketing energy and housing costs” that have made home ownership unaffordable for many, and “empower homeowners to choose what’s best for them and their families.”
