A new regulation proposed by the Department of Energy (DOE) would block half of current gas stove models from the market, an analysis by the federal agency shows.
In a proposed regulation published at the beginning of February, DOE set a maximum annual gas consumption of 1,204 thousand British thermal units (kBtu), also known as the EL 2 standard, for all gas cooking tops.
If the new regulation is finalized, only half of gas cooking tops will be able to meet the new standard, i.e., half of the products currently on the market will be blocked.
“DOE estimates that nearly half of the total gas cooking top market currently achieves EL 2 and therefore would not be impacted by the proposed standard, if finalized,” DOE said in an updated analysis (pdf).
DOE issued the updated analysis mainly because it excluded certain types of gas cooking tops in the previous analysis that was published on Feb. 1 (pdf).
Only 4 percent of the gas cooking tops in 2027 could meet the EL 2 standard if the new standard was not implemented, according to DOE’s projection in the previous analysis.
The governmental agency includes gas cooking tops with high input rate (HIR) burners in the new analysis.
The market share of qualified products expands substantially because all products with HIR can pass the new regulation, DOE said.
The new rule would be effective three years after it’s adopted.
The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) said they’re “very concerned” about the direction of the DOE.
“They have released the most stringent proposal for gas ranges, which only a sliver of the market can meet,” Jill Notini, industry spokesperson for AHAM, told The Epoch Times. “It’s very concerning what they’re doing with gas products. We believe that there should be consumer choice and that consumers should be able to make a decision on whether they would like to purchase a gas or electric product.”
“Clearly, the Department of Energy’s intentions are to eliminate gas products from the market. And they should just say that instead of releasing a deceptive and flawed analysis to justify their proposal,” Notini added.
AHAM is a trade association representing the manufacturers of household appliances sold in the United States.
They don’t trust DOE’s analysis and are carrying out their own analysis.
The results of the proposed regulation could be much worse than the DOE stated, AHAM said.
“What we believe is that products right now in the market would need significant redesign in order to meet the proposed levels,” Notini said.
The trade association said “everything is on the table” when asked if they plan to take legal action against the proposed regulation.
Rulemaking and Lawsuit
The DOE initiated the rulemaking process of potential regulation on gas cooking tops in 2014 and proposed standards in September 2016.
The 2016 standard sets the maximum annual gas consumption at 924.4 kBtu.
However, President Donald Trump’s energy department halted the rulemaking process in December 2020, months before the president was going to leave the White House.
But the rulemaking process has also been disputed in the courts as six organizations, including some environmental groups, and some blue states filed two separate lawsuits in an attempt to force the Trump administration to regulate the gas cooking tops.
AHAM was one of the plaintiff intervenors in both cases.
In September 2022, a U.S. district judge ordered DOE to issue regulations on conventional cooking products or determine that no regulation is needed by Jan. 31, 2024.
The Biden administration resumed the rulemaking process by issuing the Feb. 1, 2023, proposed rule.
From The Epoch Times
