Summary#
This bill would change the rules the Department of Energy (the Secretary) must follow when writing new or stronger energy or water efficiency standards for covered appliances and products. The bill says the Secretary may not set a new or amended standard unless the Secretary finds it is technologically feasible and economically justified. It adds specific tests and deadlines for rulemaking, requires detailed economic analyses, requires public disclosure of certain meetings, and creates a process to grant petitions to amend or revoke standards. It also blocks any new or revised standards for distribution transformers starting on the date the bill is enacted.
What it means for you#
- The Secretary must complete a final rule amending a standard within 2 years after a notice of proposed rulemaking is issued.
- People or groups can petition to amend or revoke a standard; the Secretary must grant a petition for review if the petition shows, on its face, that a standard (1) adds costs to consumers, (2) does not save significant energy or water, (3) is not technologically feasible, or (4) makes a product unavailable to all U.S. consumers. If a petition to revoke is granted, the Secretary must publish either a final rule revoking the standard or a determination not to revoke within 180 days.
- Before issuing a new or amended standard, the Secretary must run a quantitative economic impact analysis that looks at consumer costs (including low-income households), regional differences, employment effects, and lifecycle costs. The Secretary may not find a standard economically justified unless it is unlikely to cause additional net costs to consumers and the monetary value of estimated consumer savings within the first 3 years is greater than any increased consumer costs.
- The bill sets minimum savings tests: a new standard must be expected to save at least 0.3 quads of site energy over 30 years or reduce product energy or water use by at least 10 percent.
- The Secretary must consider product performance, market competition, price discrimination, and whether standards could make certain fuel-type products unavailable. The Secretary may not consider estimates of social costs or benefits from greenhouse gas emissions in the economic justification.
- The Secretary must publicly disclose, when issuing a standard, meetings in the prior 5 years with entities that (a) have ties to the People’s Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party, (b) produced studies or advocated for limits on energy use, and (c) applied for or received federal funds.
- The bill prevents the Department from creating any new or amended standards for distribution transformers after enactment; existing transformer standards stay in place.
Expenses#
No publicly available information.
Proponents' View#
The bill text directs the Secretary to prioritize consumer interests, to require economic analyses that include impacts on low-income households and regional differences, and to ensure standards are technologically feasible and do not raise net consumer costs. It also creates a petition process for amendment or revocation and requires disclosure of certain meetings. These provisions are presented in the bill as protections for consumers and market availability.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.