The Department of Energy is delaying the “effective date” for efficiency standards for multiple major appliances, an action some environmentalists are calling illegal.
On Wednesday, DOE posted two notices stating it was delaying the date — which kicks in when a finalized rule is put into the Code of Federal Regulations — for final standards issued during the Biden administration governing walk-in coolers and freezers and gas-fired water heaters. That followed similar delays this month in effective dates for test procedures released by Biden for central air conditioners, clothes washers and dryers, general service lamps and compressors.
The move sheds light on DOE’s strategy for targeting the appliance program, a priority of President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The seven delayed effective dates affect the same appliances that DOE said on Friday it was postponing implementation of, although it did not initially delineate how it was doing so.
“The people, not the government, should be choosing the home appliances and products they want at prices they can afford,” Wright said in a statement at the time. DOE described the move as a key step in undoing Biden’s “burdensome policies.”
