May 7, 2024
Dear Members of Congress,
Independent Women’s Voice strongly supports the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act sponsored by Representative. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ). Independent Women’s Voice fights for women and their loved ones by effectively expanding support for policy solutions that aren’t just well-intended, but actually enhance people’s freedom, opportunities, and well-being.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is crafting unreasonable rules and regulations for commonly-owned household appliances in accordance with the Biden administration’s misguided net-zero energy agenda.
This bill will bring much-needed checks and balances to the agency to prevent it from abusing its powers when crafting energy conservation standards.
Under the Biden administration’s proposed household appliance rulemaking, American households will see, at minimum, a $9,000 increase to retrofit their homes with green appliances.
This bill will ensure energy efficiency standards actually deliver significant energy or water conservation without wasting resources. For example, the original DOE dishwasher rule would have mandated models that use 3.2 gallons of water per washing cycle over the more efficient 5-gallon standard. These models would also have 27% “less power” and 34% “less water.”
Congresswoman Lesko’s legislation ensures household appliances aren’t technologically infeasible. Most American households use and rely on non-condensing gas furnaces. These conventional models engage a process called atmospheric venting, when exhaust produced exits a vertical chimney, shared with other household appliances. This has been a mainstay for generations and is utilized in most houses today. The same can’t be said for condensing models, which rely on a metal venting system that’s more costly to install and maintain.
Energy efficiency standards should adhere to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act—not lead to higher costs, fewer consumer options, and wasting energy.
We urge the House and the Senate to work toward the swift passage of this bill. IWV is grateful to Representative Lesko for her leadership on this issue.
Respectfully,
Gabriella Hoffman
Director, Center for Energy and Conservation
Independent Women’s Voice