The Biden administration finalized energy efficiency regulations targeting residential clothes washers and dryers in an effort to curb carbon emissions, as part of its broad climate agenda.
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the final rules, which it projected will collectively save American households $2.2 billion per year on utility bills while reducing nearly 71 million metric tons of "dangerous carbon dioxide emissions" over the next three decades. DOE's regulations targeting the popular home appliances are slightly scaled down compared to the agency's draft proposal issued a year ago.
"For decades, DOE’s appliance standards actions for clothes washers and dryers have provided loads of savings for American families while also decreasing harmful carbon emissions," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
"With strong support from industry leaders and consumer advocates, DOE will continue to roll out innovative appliance solutions throughout 2024 to lower costs for the American people —continuing the cycle of household savings that are the backbone of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda," she continued.
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Under the regulations, certain less-efficient models of washers and dryers will be barred from being sold, according to DOE.
The clothes washers rule will lead to 30-year energy savings of 0.7 quadrillion British thermal units, a savings of 3% compared to the profile of models currently on the market. And the dryers rule will lead to 30-year energy savings of 2.7 quadrillion British thermal units, a savings of 11% compared to products on the market now.
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DOE said the regulations largely reflect an agreement issued in September by environmental groups and industry associations.
"Standards at these levels will significantly reduce household energy bills and planet-warming emissions, period," Andrew deLaski, the executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said after the agreement was reached at the time.
"Swiftly establishing standards at these strong levels will allow the Department of Energy to continue to make progress with the highly successful efficiency standards program — which already saves the average household $500 annually on their energy bills," added Natural Resources Defense Council staff attorney Joe Vukovich.
The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) — which heavily criticized DOE's original proposal last year on washers and dryers — also signed onto the agreement. AHAM CEO Kelly Mariotti said in September that the compromise regulations would allow "manufacturers to continue to offer a complete range of energy-efficient products."
"What we're learning is that the government ought to get out of the business of doing these regulations," Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "And not try to just float really extreme ones and then come up with something that's less extreme."
"The main concern with these negotiated rulemakings is that it mostly involves the manufacturers and the energy efficiency activists," he added. "One wonders how much the interests of consumers are taken into account during this process."
The new standards for washers and dryers, meanwhile, are the latest in a long string of energy efficiency regulations unveiled by DOE over the last 12 months. Climate activists have argued such regulations are necessary to combat global warming, noting that the commercial and residential sector accounts for the largest share of total end-use carbon emissions of any sector in the U.S.
However, Republican lawmakers and free market advocates have argued the rules restrict consumer choice and lead to increased upfront costs.
"DOE should be looking for ways to address the problems caused by the existing washing machine regulations rather than making things worse with tougher new regulations," Lieberman told Fox News Digital.
