This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.
The Trump administration’s proposed changes to how appliance energy efficiency standards are updated has drawn arguments around the need for conservation and regulatory predictability from a range of stakeholders.
The U.S. Department of Energy in July proposed changes to the agency’s standards setting and testing processes, with an eye towards “permanently end[ing] home appliance and equipment mandates,” it said. The agency’s comment period ended Aug. 21.
The proposal included adding a threshold definition of “significant energy savings” and reverting the “process rule,” which governs the standards-setting process, to a binding rather than guidance document.
A group of 15 industry groups, including manufacturers and appliance trade groups, in Aug. 21 comments said they generally support DOE’s proposed changes, and that making the process rule binding will create a more “solid, transparent, and predictable process.”
