Vermont opposes president’s efforts to stall energy efficiency standards

Submitted by tim on Fri, 04/07/2017 - 09:46

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJDonovan announced that the State of Vermont joined two multi-state actions to force the USDepartment of Energy (DOE) to finalize energy conservation standards for several consumer and commercial products. Efficiency standards are crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving money for consumers. The standards apply to items such as ceiling fans, portable air conditioners, walk-in coolers and commercial boilers.

“The delay of these common-sense efficiency standards is going to have a negative effect on the environment and Vermonters wallets,” said Attorney General Donovan. The DOE published new energy efficiency standards for ceiling fans as a final rule on January 19, 2017, with an effective date for the rule of March 20, 2017. The President’s Administration has since delayed the rule’s effective date twice – most recently pushing it back to September 30, 2017– asserting that seeking public input on the delay would be “impractical, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest.”

The six standards being blocked by DOE offer dramatic air pollution reductions, as well as energy- and cost-savings to consumers and businesses. According to DOE estimates, the standards would combine to eliminate emissions of 292 million tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, 734 thousand tons of the pollution that creates soot and smog, 1.2 million tons of the potent climate change pollutant methane, and over 1,000 pounds of highly-toxic mercury, over a 30-year period. Over this same period, the Appliance Standard Awareness Project estimates that the efficiency standards would together save over 443 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity – the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of over 36 million households. The DOE itself estimates that the six standards would provide net savings to consumers and businesses of approximately $23.8 billion.

In addition to Vermont, the coalition of states filing a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, challenging the delay on efficiency standards for ceiling fans includes the Attorneys General of the states of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Washington, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the City of New York. The same coalition, plus the Attorney General of Maryland, is sending a 60-day notice of intention to sue to the DOE regarding the other standards.