Department of Energy Sued over its Energy Efficiency Process

(Credit: Pixabay)

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued the US Department of Energy (DOE) this week over its new energy efficiency standards-setting process that the NRDC claims will impede future efforts to make America’s appliances and equipment more efficient, significantly harming consumers and the environment.

The Council says the DOE’s illegal changes to its “Process Rule” represent yet another attack on the nation’s highly successful energy efficiency standards program that will deliver $2 trillion in savings to consumers and businesses by 2030.

The DOE’s own calculations show existing common-sense energy-saving standards for appliances and equipment like refrigerators, water heaters, and air conditioners will help avoid a total of 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide pollution by 2030. Increased efficiency can reduce the amount of power generated from fossil fuels — and the associated pollution.

The suit, filed in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, says the new Process Rule sets an arbitrary baseline for “significant savings” to establish a new standard. About 40% of the standards on the books could not meet it, which means consumers and businesses would have paid several billion dollars more on their utility bills. NRDC sued the last time the DOE tried to set specific numeric thresholds for the amount of energy savings that constitute “significant conservation of energy” required under the law establishing the standards program — and the court agreed with the Council in NRDC v. Herrington.

The NRDC says the DOE’s new rule also adds unnecessary steps to an already-complex standards development process that will further extend the time to set new standards and the savings they deliver, and establishes a new testing protocol slanted in favor of industry, similar to letting students write their own exams.

Joining NRDC in the lawsuit are Earthjustice (representing the Sierra Club, Consumer Federation of America, and Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants); the US Public Interest Research Group; and Environment America. In addition, a group of 13 states — California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — plus the city of New York and the District of Columbia, filed a similar lawsuit in the same court.

This is the 107th lawsuit that NRDC has filed against Trump administration rollbacks and efforts. Of the 65 cases resolved thus far, NRDC has prevailed in 60 of them. The newest lawsuit also marks the third time in five months that NRDC and other environmental and consumer groups have sued DOE over energy efficiency standards.