PLAN WOULD TIGHTEN ENERGY STANDARDS FOR HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

Goal is to reduce emissions, lower costs for consumers

The Biden administration on Friday proposed stricter energy standards for household washing machines, refrigerators and freezers to reduce emissions while also saving consumers money.

The Energy Department said the changes to regulations, which have not been updated in over a decade, would save Americans about $3.5 billion a year on energy and water bills while reducing emissions of harmful greenhouse gases. Homeowners

would save an average of $295 over the 14-year life of a new clothes washer and $130 over the life of a new refrigerator.

Appliance companies, however, would need to invest approximately $2 billion over the next three years to update product designs and manufacturing lines to comply with the new standards, the Energy Department conceded. The department estimated that in one of the more likely of five economic scenarios, the compliance costs could cause a 15 percent to 30 percent drop in the industry’s value. But it also said that revenue could grow substantially.

“With today’s proposals, we’re building on a decadeslong effort with industry to ensure tomorrow’s appliances work more efficiently and save Americans money,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm. “Over the last 40 years, at the direction of Congress, DOE has worked to promote innovation, improve consumers’ options, and raise efficiency standards for household appliances without sacrificing the reliability and performance that Americans have come to expect.”

The new appliance standards, which could come into effect as early as 2027, are being proposed amid a national furor over possible federal regulation of gas stoves because of their potential health impacts.

Conservatives have sought to depict the Biden administration as waging a war on household appliances, but experts in energy efficiency say the standards proposed Friday are long overdue and could produce big savings for consumers.

Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the Energy Department is required to conduct regular reviews of appliance efficiency standards. Although the department is not required to tighten the standards, it usually chooses to do so.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, however, wants to end the reviews that are performed every six years under the act. “More stringent federal efficiency standards are likely to increase costs for manufacturers and consumers without providing meaningful energy savings,” the group says on its website. “Most appliances covered by the program now operate at or near peak efficiency.”

In an email Friday, AHAM Vice President Jill Notini said this is the fifth generation of standards for refrigerators and the seventh for clothes washers. “Standards are a balancing act,” she said. “Manufacturers must deliver efficient products while still providing the features, performance and affordability that consumers expect.”

Today, 15 million refrigerators are sold in the United States every year, and a typical new one uses 75 percent less energy than its 1973 counterpart while offering roughly 20 percent more storage capacity and more useful features, the Energy Department said in a news release.

If approved, the new regulations would be a landmark for appliances that were caught up in President Donald Trump’s efforts to freeze or roll back energy-efficiency standards.

At that time, the Natural Resources Defense Council — along with consumer and low-income advocates, and a number of states — sued the Energy Department because it did not take action on 25 standards.