Democrats urged to vote against bills to curb device regulations – Energy

(The Center Square) – With inflation rising and Americans still struggling to pay for basic necessities, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have been spurred to vote against legislation that would limit the Biden administration’s regulation of home appliances. Republicans say the regulations will only make costs even higher and less affordable than they already are.

The bills that passed the Energy and Commerce Committee, H.R. 7700, the “Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards (SUDS) Act,” filed by U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-New York, and H.R. 7637, the “Refrigerator Freedom Act,” filed by Rep. Mary Miller-Meeks, R-Ill., are scheduled for a vote of the full House this week.

Although Democrats are in the minority in the House of Representatives and are unlikely to block the bills, Massachusetts Democrat Katherine Clark, the House minority leader, encouraged Democrats to vote against them.

In a “Question of the Whip” sent to House Democrats first published by Axios, Clark said the bills were originally spotted alongside the parent bill, HR 6192, the “Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act,” in May.

They amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act “to make it more difficult for the Department of Energy (DOE) to effectively issue energy efficiency standards” for dishwashers, refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers.

“Despite House Republicans’ claims, DOE energy efficiency standards must already be cost-effective, provide significant savings, be technologically feasible, and be economically justifiable under existing law,” Clark said. “House Republicans’ proposals add duplicative requirements for setting standards to complicate a process that has already been underway for many years.”

She also said the bills were “frivolous” and did not specify when they would take effect, did not provide definitions for terms mentioned in the bills and “completely ignore the agreement on standards that appliance manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates reached in September 2023.”

Clark also said they are “completely unnecessary” after the House passed the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, which “creates similar obstacles to the DOE standards-setting process and covers all appliances, including those covered by H.R. 7700 and H.R. 7637.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Lasko, R-Ariz., who introduced the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, said she was “saddened that we need a bill like this.” After the bill passed in May, she said, “No government bureaucrat should ever plan to take away Americans’ appliances in the name of a radical environmental agenda, yet that’s exactly what we’ve seen under the Biden administration.”

The bill requires any new energy efficiency standards to be cost-effective and prevents the federal government from banning home appliances based on fuel economy.

The Biden administration is “declaring war on American energy, and that war is coming home to the American people,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans, led by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, said in a statement. The committee has held hearings on the Biden administration’s home appliance and energy policy regulations and has endorsed bills set to vote on this week.

President Joe Biden and Energy Department Secretary Jennifer Granholm “are sacrificing people’s ability to purchase affordable, reliable products for their homes in pursuit of a radical environmental agenda,” the Republicans said in a statement.

“Housing prices and utility bills are already too high for Americans, but that hasn’t stopped the administration from continuing to impose burdensome regulations,” including on washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and other household appliances.

While the rules force Americans “to spend more on less reliable options,” they will not result in significant energy savings and are not cost-effective, committee Republicans said.

The commission also cites a DOE analysis that found that dishwasher efficiency requirements could increase upfront costs by 28%, causing consumers to have to wait 12 years to recoup the higher cost of purchasing a product that may only last seven to 12 years.

“Americans are already being crushed by rising costs from Bidenflation,” committee Republicans said. “By continuing to double down on policies like this, the Biden administration is showing how out of touch it is with the financial problems felt by the vast majority of Americans.”

The bills are expected to fail in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.