Attacks on Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards Are Bad for Grid Reliability & Consumers

Washington, DC - Today, during an Energy & Commerce Subcommittee hearing, Republican members of the subcommittee attacked appliance energy efficiency standards, a key tool to keep the American energy supply stable, protect public health, reduce or eliminate pollution, and lower costs for consumers.

The Department of Energy is legally required to set appliance efficiency standards to ensure that inefficient models of appliances, like dishwashers, stoves, heaters, are not straining the grid and burdening consumers with high utility bills. DOE works closely with manufacturers, experts and the public to set commonsense, achievable standards.

According to the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, rolling back federal appliance efficiency standards would cost consumers $43 billion.

In response, Sierra Club Building Electrification Campaign Director Srinidhi Sampath Kumar released the following statement:

"Appliance efficiency standards provide everything most politicians say they stand for: innovative manufacturing, a reliable energy grid, and lower consumer costs. Eliminating appliance efficiency standards is not in the best interest of American consumers, it's in the best interest of bad manufacturers who want to sell cheaply-made, energy-sucking appliances. By attacking appliance efficiency standards, Republicans are making it clear their allegiances lie with the corporate executives that fund their campaigns, not with the constituents they represent who are struggling with high energy bills."

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About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of 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 https://www.sierraclub.org.