The Department of Energy’s push to cancel efficiency regulations for appliances and industrial equipment will likely trigger a flood of cheap foreign imports, according to a range of critics, including U.S. manufacturers, Democratic attorneys general and clean energy advocates.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright kicked off DOE’s “largest deregulatory effort in history” in May with proposals to eliminate or reduce dozens of regulations. Some of the most significant rules slated for rescission are efficiency standards for clothes washers, dishwashers, cooking tops and other major consumer products. The comment window on those proposals wrapped up this week, although most comments from companies and other stakeholders are not yet available publicly.
Stephen Yurek, president of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents companies like Schneider Electric, Lennox and A.O. Smith, said in an interview that the rollbacks will disadvantage U.S. producers.
“They would have to reengineer all those products. They’d have to resource the components that go into them,” Yurek said. “U.S.-made products would be more expensive and therefore less affordable.”
