Groups Will Sue Unless DOE Updates 26 Overdue Energy Efficiency Standards

DOE Inaction Will Cost Consumers at Least $22 Billion and Spew at Least 80 Million Tons of Carbon into the Air

WASHINGTON  – Six environmental and consumer groups warned the U.S. Department of Energy today that they will sue the agency if it does not meet its legal responsibility to review and update overdue energy efficiency standards for an unprecedented 26 consumer and commercial products—including some of the largest energy users, such as air conditioners, water heaters, refrigerators, and clothes dryers—within 60 days.

Updating the standards for these appliances and equipment would save U.S. consumers at least $22 billion annually on their utility bills and prevent almost 80 million metric tons of carbon pollution— equal to the annual tailpipe emissions from more than 17 million cars—by 2035. These totals represent only the 15 standards where recent projections are available, so the actual number would likely be far higher.

The notice of intent to sue Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Dan Brouillette said the agency is required by law to review and where appropriate, update efficiency standards for each product according to deadlines prescribed in the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) authorizing the national appliance and equipment standards program. The letter was signed by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council); Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity (with Earthjustice as their counsel); Consumer Federation of America; the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants (MUPHT) (with National Consumer Law Center as its counsel); and Public Citizen.

“DOE under the Trump administration has repeatedly and systemically failed to comply with these basic and important duties,” the letter says. “If DOE does not comply with its duty to complete the actions required under EPCA to review and update the standards for these products within sixty days, we intend to bring suit to compel it to do so.”

Separately, 15 states plus the District of Columbia and the City of New York sent DOE a similar letter.

Since its 1987 launch, the national efficiency standards program has quietly saved Americans billions of dollars on their utility bills—$500 per household, on average, every year—and is projected to save $2 trillion and help the U.S. avoid 7 billion tons of carbon pollution by 2030. The DOE under President Trump has failed to review more standards than any other presidential administration in the history of the 33-year-old national energy efficiency standards program, denying Americans the billions in energy bill savings and adding millions of tons of pollution to the air.

Some of the standards—which set a minimum level of efficiency—have not been updated for almost a decade. Meanwhile, technology has continued to evolve, making many models of the appliances and equipment far more efficient. Without the required updates to standards, less efficient products remain on the market and consumers may inadvertently choose products that waste energy and cost more to operate.

The letter to Secretary Brouillette notes DOE has missed deadlines for reviewing efficiency standards for 17 products under EPCA, which requires DOE to review a standard every six years and update it if warranted. Here are the products and deadlines: 

Separately, DOE failed to finalize six standards after proposing an efficiency standard improvement. In most cases, the standards must be finalized within two years. The standards and finalization deadlines:  

The DOE also missed the April 26, 2019 deadline for updating dedicated outdoor air systems, computer room air conditioners, and VRF (variable refrigerant flow) air conditioners and heat pumps as EPCA requires within 18 months of more stringent standards being set under ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, which provides minimum requirements for energy-efficient building designs except for low-rise residential buildings.

Meanwhile, the agency also has rolled back two light bulb standards that would have saved consumers $14 billion on their utility bills and avoided 38 million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions every year, actions now being challenged in the courts. DOE finalized changes to its efficiency standards process that will slow down—if not halt altogether—future efforts to make America’s appliances and equipment more efficient. (Several groups sued.) NRDC, Sierra Club, CFA, and others also sued to finally force the DOE to publish four long-delayed standards in the Federal Register—the final necessary step—almost three years later than they should have been finalized.

EPCA allows private groups to sue the DOE over standards after providing 60 days’ notice of intent to do so. When the agency under President George W. Bush missed 22 standards, NRDC and MUPHT sued in 2004, leading to a landmark consent decree that set new, binding deadlines for each standard. Under President Trump DOE has consistently missed deadlines. The agency’s unlawful failure to review and update the energy conservation standards for these 26 products is unacceptable and must be addressed by the court. 

For additional information, see this blog by Lauren Urbanek.

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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

The Consumer Federation of America is a national organization of more than 250 nonprofit consumer groups that was founded in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education.

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants: Founded by public housing residents in 1967 and incorporated in 1971, the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants was the first statewide public housing tenants’ organization in the nation. MUPHT believes that public housing developments can be communities to be proud of, and is committed to ensuring that public housing must be maintained as a precious resource, until the day when affordable housing is the right of all.

National Consumer Law Center: The nonprofit National Consumer Law Center® (NCLC®) works for economic justice for low-income and other disadvantaged people in the U.S. through policy analysis and advocacy, publications, litigation, and training.  Throughout its 50-year history, NCLC has advocated for program and policies that help make energy affordable f\or low-income households and has strongly supported improvements in appliance energy efficiency standards.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power, protect the environment and work to ensure that government works for the people – not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.  

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