Latest news with #ApplianceStandardsAwarenessProject
The Verge
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Energy efficiency rollbacks could cost Americans $43 billion in higher utility bills
The Trump administration's attempts to gut 12 energy efficiency standards could cost Americans billions of dollars in higher electricity bills. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that it plans to rollback dozens of policies in what it called its 'largest deregulatory effort in history.' While the DOE claims that getting rid of 'burdensome and costly' rules would save $11 billion, that doesn't take into account the costs Americans would bear if they have to use more energy-hungry appliances. Adding up those costs, the deregulation spree would ultimately lead to about $43 billion in higher electricity bills for households and businesses, according to an analysis by the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) that was first shared with The Verge. 'The department is looking at the savings these rollbacks would provide while completely ignoring the costs.' 'The department is looking at the savings these rollbacks would provide while completely ignoring the costs. It turns out that the costs would be nearly five times greater than the savings,' says Joanna Mauer, deputy director of ASAP. ASAP compiled data on 12 of the efficiency standards DOE targeted, for which the department had previously published its own estimates for costs and savings it expected the rules to generate for consumers. A common criticism of energy efficient appliances is that they often cost more to purchase than a less efficient alternative. Upon finalizing the efficiency standard for portable air conditioners in 2020, for example, the DOE expected the cost of buying more efficient technologies to add up to $1 billion for consumers who purchase those products during the 30 years following the rule going into effect. Taking those costs into account adds up to the roughly $11 billion in savings the DOE says it's achieving by getting rid of those 12 standards. But that's an incomplete picture, ASAP argues. When the DOE finalizes a standard, it typically also calculates the cumulative savings consumers would benefit from with a more efficient appliance. Those savings primarily come from lower energy bills (although the metric also considers other potential costs like repairs). The portable air conditioner standard, for instance, was expected to save consumers $4.1 billion over the lifetime of products purchased during the same 30 year time period. That leads to a net savings of $3.1 billion for consumers as a result of the efficiency standard for portable air conditioners. The net savings the DOE has previously estimated for the 12 rules on the chopping block now add up to $43.2 billion — which is what ASAP says is the more important number to consider. Those standards apply to an array of common products including microwave ovens, conventional cooking tops and ovens, air purifiers, dehumidifiers, external power supplies, battery chargers for phones and other devices, and more. The DOE didn't immediately respond to The Verge's press inquiry. 'We are bringing back common sense — slashing regulations meant to appease Green New Deal fantasies, restrict consumer choice and increase costs for the American people,' Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in the agency's announcement last week. Its proposals are likely to face legal challenges because energy efficiency standards are subject to an anti-backsliding provision within the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the Secretary of Energy to stop enforcing a slate of efficiency rules the administration plans to rescind or revise. News also broke this month that the Environmental Protection Agency plans to shutter the Energy Star program that can save a typical household $450 a year on energy bills.
Epoch Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Energy Department Proposes to Slash 47 Rules Amid Deregulatory Push
The Department of Energy (DOE) on May 12 proposed to eliminate or roll back 47 regulations in what it called the first step in America's 'largest deregulatory effort in history.' The move is expected to save the nation $11 billion by eliminating regulations that it said were 'driving up costs' and 'lowering quality of life' for the people, 'Thanks to President Trump's leadership, we are bringing back common sense—slashing regulations meant to appease Green New Deal fantasies, restrict consumer choice, and increase costs for the American people,' DOE Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. The proposals, The department proposed streamlining administrative procedures for natural gas imports and exports, as well as the authorization process for transmitting electric energy to other countries. DOE also proposed removing certain products, including portable air conditioners, fans, and blowers, from the list of covered products under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Related Stories 5/5/2025 3/25/2025 It also sought to rescind regulations for loans for minority business enterprises seeking DOE contracts, along with reporting requirements and DOE review for voluntary greenhouse gas reporting. The move came just days after President Donald Trump In his 'Efficiency standards render other American appliances like clothes washers and dishwashers less useful, more breakable, and more expensive to repair,' the president stated. 'The federal government should not impose or enforce regulations that make taxpayers' lives worse.' The memo directs Wright to review and rescind rules limiting water use in showerheads, faucets, dishwashers, toilets, urinals, and washing machines, or return these rules to the bare minimum required by the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, warned that the DOE's proposals could increase the operating costs of products targeted for rollbacks. 'If this attack on consumers succeeds, President Trump would be raising costs dramatically for families as manufacturers dump energy- and water-wasting products into the market,' deLaski said in a Joseph Lord contributed to this report.
New York Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Energy Department to Repeal Efficiency Rules for Appliances
The Energy Department said on Monday that it was preparing to roll back energy and water conservation standards for a long list of electric and gas appliances, targeting 47 regulations that it said were 'driving up costs and lowering quality of life for the American people.' The moves follow an executive order last week from President Trump directing the Energy Department to 'eliminate restrictive water pressure and efficiency rules that make household appliances less effective and more expensive.' But energy-efficiency experts and climate advocates said the Energy Department's moves would increase the cost of running household appliances like dehumidifiers and portable air-conditioners as well as air compressors used in industry. 'If this attack on consumers succeeds, President Trump would be raising costs dramatically for families as manufacturers dump energy- and water-wasting products into the market,' said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, a coalition of environmental and consumer groups, utilities and government agencies. Mr. deLaski also said that the effort violated an anti-backsliding provision in a decades-old underlying statute, which prohibits the federal government from adopting standards that are more lenient than ones already on the books. 'It's patently illegal, so hold your horses,' he said in a statement. Like many other countries, the United States has for decades adopted standards that govern how much energy or water that appliances — including lightbulbs, dishwashers, water heaters and washing machines — can use. By government scientists' own accounting, efficiency standards saved the average American household about $576 in 2024 on water and gas bills while cutting the nation's annual energy consumption by 6.5 percent and public water use by 12 percent. Thanks in part to those measures, the total amount of energy and water used by American households has not grown nearly as fast as the population. But the Trump administration has framed the standards as an example of governmental overreach. Mr. Trump has also made a habit of complaining about shower heads with weak water pressure, or toilets that don't flush properly, and has blamed efficiency standards for those issues. Conservative groups have also argued that efficiency standards hurt the performance of appliances like dishwashers. The Energy Department's list of appliance regulations it has targeted includes air cleaners, battery chargers, compressors, cooking tops, dehumidifiers, external power supplies, microwave ovens, dishwashers and faucets. Getting rid of the standards would 'cut more than 125,000 words from the Code of Federal Regulations,' the department said. Still, rolling back the standards would require a new rule-making process thatcould take months or longer. The rollback is also likely to face legal challenges. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, is planning to eliminate Energy Star, the popular energy-efficiency certification for dishwashers, refrigerators, dryers and other home appliances. In the past, manufacturers have been supportive of government efficiency standards, but now they are moving to take advantage of Mr. Trump's deregulatory drive. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, which represents 150 manufacturers behind 95 percent of the household appliances shipped for sale within the United States, said it was still evaluating Monday's announcements. But Jill A. Notini, a spokeswoman for the association, pointed to a statement in which the association said that the standards had 'helped achieve decades of successful improvements in appliance efficiency.' The association added, 'With most appliances operating near peak efficiency, additional meaningful savings are unlikely for some products' without some loss of performance. In addition to repealing efficiency measures, the Energy Department is planning to eliminate several clean energy and climate change programs. It will rescind reporting requirements for a voluntary program under which companies can report their greenhouse gas emissions, and end a program that provides payments for electricity produced with renewable power. The Energy Department is also getting rid of what it calls 'unscientific' diversity, equity and inclusion requirements for grant recipients. Specifically, it is proposing to repeal regulations to ensure grant recipients are not discriminated against on the basis of sex, race or age. Some proposals seem to have little to do with the department's purview. One proposed repeal, for example, is for 'Ending Requirements for Members of One Sex to Be Able to Try Out for Sports Teams of the Opposite Sex.'
The Verge
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Trump administration announces ‘illegal' rollback of energy and water efficiency standards
The US Energy Department says it's rolling back long-standing efficiency standards for appliances, which advocates are calling a clear violation of the law. Continuing the Trump administration's assault on federal water and energy efficiency programs, the department announced today what it's calling its 'largest deregulatory effort in history.' The agency is trying to rollback 47 regulations it says are 'burdensome and costly,' including more than a dozen efficiency standards for appliances and battery chargers. The proposed rules target the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), which contains an anti-backsliding provision — and that the Trump administration is seemingly trying to bypass. 'If this attack on consumers succeeds, President Trump would be raising costs dramatically for families as manufacturers dump energy- and water-wasting products into the market. Fortunately, it's patently illegal, so hold your horses,' Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said in a press statement released today. 'Fortunately, it's patently illegal, so hold your horses.' The Energy Department didn't immediately respond to a press inquiry from The Verge asking why it believes its proposals do not violate EPCA, which passed Congress in 1975 and had the anti-backsliding provision added in 1987. However, drafts of proposed rules on the Federal Register's website say that it wants to return standards to previous limits set by Congress. In some cases, doing so could eliminate decades of energy and water saving standards, deLaski tells The Verge. A proposed rule for commercial clothes washers, for instance, would bring water conservation standards back to a 'statutory baseline' set in 2007. Other rules target microwave ovens, conventional ovens, dish washers, faucets, portable air conditioners, and more. The law's anti-backsliding provision stipulates that the energy secretary can't amend a standard in a way that 'increases the maximum allowable energy use' or 'decreases the minimum required energy efficiency' of a covered product. In other words, the agency can't issue rules that are weaker than they were before. In many cases, the Energy Department has updated standards initially set by Congress as more efficient technologies became available — which it's required to do by law if it is 'economically justified.' The rules proposed today attempt to go back to limits set by Congress years ago, undoing tougher standards set more recently. The Energy Department is also attempting to get rid of standards altogether in cases where limits weren't explicitly set in law by Congress. In the proposed rule for commercial clothes washers, the agency argues that the anti-backsliding provision applies to energy efficiency but not water standards. 'Water use has nothing to do with the energy consumed by a clothes washer. Therefore, the anti-backsliding provision does not apply,' it says. The agency still needs to open up its rules for public comment before attempting to finalize them, and is likely to face legal challenges. Courts have previously weighed in on the strength of the anti-backsliding provision. A 2004 decision from a federal appeals court says EPCA 'unambiguously' constrains the Energy Department's ability to weaken efficiency standards once they are published as final rules in the Federal Register. 'We're seeing the wholesale abandonment of a dozen-plus energy efficiency standards without any justification, and that absolutely violates the anti-backsliding provision,' says Kit Kennedy, who was one of the attorneys in the 2004 case and is currently a managing director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The move follows a presidential memorandum Trump signed on Friday that takes aim at water use rules and related energy efficiency standards, as well as news that the Environmental Protection Agency plans to wind down the Energy Star program. Experts warn that the proposed rules could lead to higher utility bills for consumers. While a program like Energy Star can help people choose more efficient appliances, standards the Trump administration is now targeting are supposed to ensure that more efficient technologies are accessible to anyone regardless of what they can afford to purchase. Appliance energy efficiency standards have been a great success. They save households on their electricity bills every month,' Michael Gerrard, founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University says in an email to The Verge. 'Refrigerators are just as cold and just as large as they ever were but they are now much cheaper to run.'
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump wants to ‘make America's showers great again' — but water bills are boiling over in certain states
President Donald Trump says he's going to 'make America's showers great again' by easing restrictions on water flow. I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how The executive order signed earlier this month 'frees Americans from excessive regulations that turned a basic household item into a bureaucratic nightmare,' according to a White House fact sheet. "No longer will showerheads be weak and worthless." As he signed the order, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that 'ridiculous' water pressure requires him to stand in the shower for 15 minutes to get his hair wet. The change comes down to the definition of showerhead. Showerheads manufactured since 1994 cannot discharge more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute to abide with federal laws. In the case of showerheads with multiple nozzles, President Obama made it so this restriction applied to the entire showerhead overall rather than each nozzle. Trump wants each individual nozzle to be considered a showerhead, so that every nozzle can produce 2.5 gallons of water per minute. He has directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to rescind the change by the Obama administration. 'We're going to get rid of those restrictions. You have many places where they have water, they have so much water they don't know what to do with it. But people buy a house, they turn on the sink, and water barely comes out. They take a shower, water barely comes out. And it's an unnecessary restriction,' said the president. The executive order will also impact sinks and toilets. Critics argue that Trump's executive order is irrelevant since modern showerheads have no trouble delivering good water pressure and meeting water flow standards. 'Showerheads seem to be a pet peeve of President Trump—he keeps bringing them up,' said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), to Fast Company. 'But his concerns are outdated — while there were problems with showerheads sold in the 1990s, those problems have long since been solved by manufacturers' modern designs.' As for consumers, higher water usage could lead to higher monthly utility bills. About 17% of water used in American homes is for showers and 26.7% is for toilets, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the cost of water has surged across the U.S. in recent decades. The EPA estimates that 9.2% to 14.6% of all U.S. households don't have affordable access to water services. Bills are rising faster in some regions, as recent research points out. The average American uses about 82 gallons of water every day, and the average family spends more than $1,000 on water every year, according to the EPA. The Bank of America recently spotted that water bills are rising much faster in certain states. Last year, water bills in the Mid-Atlantic, Pacific, and West North Central regions rose faster than the national rate. The Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) saw the biggest price jump in 2024, with a year-over-year increase of 9.5%, compared to the national increase of 6.8%. 'It's possible that labor-related inflation and seasonal charges due to weather in these states are more directly passed onto to customers,' said the report. 'Various factors, such as infrastructure age, localized climate risks, and respective state policies, can influence regional water rate disparities.' The Midwest was the only region with water bills higher than the overall U.S. level for the past two years, and the Northeast was the only region to be consecutively lower. Higher-income households saw the biggest increases, but lower-income households typically pay more as a percentage of their income. 'And with local utilities contending with rising operational costs caused in part by climate change-induced shifts, more households could fall into 'water debt,'' noted the report. Read more: The US stock market's 'fear gauge' has exploded — but this 1 'shockproof' asset is up 14% and helping American retirees stay calm. Here's how to own it ASAP With eased regulations on water flow — combined with rising prices and growing water shortages — it's possible those bills will jump even higher. But there are measures you can take to keep your water bill from boiling over. Simple measures include taking shorter showers or cutting back on baths. The EPA says a full bathtub uses up to 70 gallons of water while a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons. You can also turn off the tap while you're brushing your teeth or lathering soap on your hands. You could also look into installing water-saving fixtures, including faucets, showerheads and toilets. Products with the WaterSense label are more water-efficient (and equally as effective) than standard models — and can save you hundreds of dollars a year. Also check for leaky taps and toilets, which can literally lead to money down the drain. While there's an upfront cost, replacing older dishwashers and washing machines with Energy Star-certified appliances can save you money in the long run. For example, an Energy Star-certified dishwasher saves about 5,800 gallons over the course of its lifetime — and only costs about $50 a year to run. You may be eligible for a rebate to offset the cost of purchasing energy-efficient appliances. If you have a lawn, water it before sunrise or after sunset (during the day, the water could evaporate in the sun rather than sinking into the soil). Also, use sprinklers with low-flow sprinkler heads or invest in smart irrigation controllers so you can adjust your watering levels based on weather and other factors. You could even swap out your grass for native or drought-tolerant plants — known as xeriscaping — which could lead to substantial savings down the road. Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
