The Biden administration is poised to release a final energy efficiency rule for stoves after claiming that it has no intention to ban gas-powered models, according to The Washington Post.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is set to publish the standards on Tuesday or Wednesday, in accordance with a court order that requires the agency to publish the rule by the end of January, according to the Post, which granted its sources anonymity to discuss the matter. The administration proposed an aggressive efficiency regulation for stoves in February 2023 and subsequently promised that it is not attempting to ban gas stoves, calling suggestions to the contrary “misinformation.”
The forthcoming rule will apparently apply to stoves produced in 2028 and beyond, with electric stoves needing to use 30% less energy on an annual basis than the least efficient models in use today, according to the Post. Gas stoves and electric ovens will reportedly need to use 7% less energy, and gas ovens will need to achieve a reduction of 4% under the final rule.
The rules are likely to make certain models more expensive up front, but the government contends that the rule will save Americans money on their utility bills in the long-run by reducing the amount of energy their stoves use, according to the Post.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr. kicked off a political firestorm in January 2023, weeks before the administration unveiled the original proposal, when he suggested that a potential de facto ban on gas stoves was on the table in an interview with Bloomberg News. The administration has repeatedly insisted that it is a “myth” that the federal government wants to ban gas stoves in the time since.
“The vast majority of cooktop models — both electric and gas — will meet the standard as they exist today without modification,” an anonymous DOE official told the Post. “Consumers will still be able to buy the same cooking products.”
The rules will not target stoves currently on the market or in use in Americans’ homes, according to the Post, but it is unclear how drastically the regulation will impact the types of stoves that are manufactured and sold in the future.
Beyond stoves, the Biden DOE has also sought to impose energy efficiency regulations for items like water heaters, furnaces and pool pump motors. The administration has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help state and municipal governments pursue building codes meant to “decarbonize” buildings.
Neither the DOE nor the White House responded immediately to requests for comment.
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Republished with permission from Daily Caller News Foundation
