The U.S. Energy Department has announced a rollback of established efficiency standards for appliances, a move that advocates argue undermines existing regulations. This decision aligns with the former Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle federal water and energy efficiency programs. The department described this undertaking as its “largest deregulatory effort in history.”
The agency aims to eliminate 47 regulations it characterizes as “burdensome and costly,” which include over a dozen efficiency standards concerning appliances and battery chargers. These proposed changes appear to challenge the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), particularly its anti-backsliding provision.
“Should this consumer attack be successful, President Trump would significantly increase costs for families while permitting manufacturers to flood the market with energy- and water-wasting products. Fortunately, this plan is illegal,” stated Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, in a recent press release.
”Fortunately, this plan is illegal.”
The Energy Department did not respond immediately to an inquiry from Technology News regarding its rationale for believing the proposed changes comply with EPCA, which was enacted in 1975 and incorporated the anti-backsliding provision in 1987. Drafts of the proposed regulations published on the Federal Register’s website suggest a return to earlier standards established by Congress.
This revision could, in some cases, dismantle decades of energy and water conservation achievements, according to deLaski. For instance, a proposed rule for commercial clothes washers intends to revert water conservation standards to levels defined in 2007. Other products affected include microwave ovens, conventional ovens, dishwashers, faucets, and portable air conditioners.
The anti-backsliding provision of the law stipulates that the energy secretary cannot modify a standard in a manner that “increases the maximum allowable energy use” or “decreases the minimum required energy efficiency” of a covered product. Essentially, weaker regulations cannot be established. Typically, the Energy Department has adjusted standards set by Congress as more efficient technologies emerged, complying with a requirement to do so if economically justified.
The current proposed regulations seek to revert standards established by Congress in previous years and also aim to eliminate standards where specific limits were not outlined by Congress.
In the proposed regulation for commercial clothes washers, the agency claims that while the anti-backsliding provision applies to energy efficiency, it does not pertain to water standards. “Water use has nothing to do with the energy consumed by a clothes washer. Therefore, the anti-backsliding provision does not apply,” the proposal states.
The Department of Energy will need to open the proposed regulations for public comment prior to any finalization, and it is expected to encounter legal challenges. Courts have previously ruled on the anti-backsliding provision’s strength, with a 2004 court decision asserting that EPCA “unambiguously” restricts the Energy Department’s ability to weaken efficiency standards once they are final regulations in the Federal Register.
“We are witnessing a blanket abandonment of over a dozen energy efficiency standards without proper justification, which unquestionably violates the anti-backsliding provision,” remarked Kit Kennedy, one of the attorneys involved in the 2004 case and currently managing director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
This initiative follows a presidential memorandum signed by Trump on Friday, focusing on revising water use rules and associated energy efficiency standards while also indicating that the Environmental Protection Agency plans to phase out the Energy Star program.
Experts caution that the newly proposed regulations could lead to increased utility expenses for consumers. Programs such as Energy Star are designed to assist individuals in selecting more efficient appliances, while the standards under scrutiny are meant to ensure that energy-efficient technologies remain accessible to everyone, regardless of financial capacity.
“The success of appliance energy efficiency standards is evident. They consistently reduce monthly electricity costs for households,” commented Michael Gerrard, founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, in a message to Technology News. “Refrigerators maintain their size and cooling capabilities while being significantly cheaper to operate.”
