The Biden administration has quietly admitted that a new proposed energy efficiency rule from the Department of Energy (DOE) could remove up to 50% of current gas stoves from the U.S. market if it is enacted.
On Friday, E&E News reported that DOE did not include that fact once the proposed rule was online, but instead released a memo clarifying key portions of the rule that could alter available options for U.S. consumers. The Energy Department is claiming that the rule will lead to increased energy savings for the U.S. consumer, thereby helping to combat climate change.
The proposed rule actually targets two different stove tops featured on gas stoves, both of which the department says use high energy.
“Together with the models included in the engineering analysis, DOE estimates that nearly half of the total gas cooking top market … would not be impacted by the proposed standard, if finalized,” the memo said.
Others claim that the same memo and DOE’s own data show that as many as 96% of gas stoves currently on the market could be taken off, but Energy claims that is not true. The data apparently reveal that just 4% — or one out 21 — of gas stoves tested by the department would be allowed for purchase under the new standard. An Energy spokesman denied those allegations.
“DOE presented a set of data of units that we physically tested — this should not be confused with the percentage of products that would meet the standard,” the spokesman said. “The tested sample is just a small subset of models that better help DOE understands the annual energy consumption of these units.”
Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute told E&E News that this new report must be taken against the backdrop of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s potential rule addressing gas stoves as well.
“This proposed rule comes with a somewhat controversial background regarding another agency,” Liberman said. “I think it’s still very, very concerning for natural gas stoves.”
In December, Richard Trumka, Jr, a Consumer Product Safety Commission chief, argued that the U.S. government should ban gas stoves outright, citing health concerns amongst climate change worries.
“We ought to keep that possibility of a [gas stove] ban in mind, as you follow along, because it’s a powerful tool in our toolbox and it’s a real possibility here,” Trumka told a group of environmentalists.
Banning gas stoves didn’t come out of left field.
Here’s CPSC commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr. in December:
“We ought to keep that possibility of a [gas stove] ban in mind, as you follow along, because it's a powerful tool in our toolbox and it's a real possibility here.” pic.twitter.com/GSfjwLJPPG
— Tim Meads (@TimMeadsUSA) January 12, 2023
“This is a big part of the climate agenda … this effort to stop the use of natural gas,” Liberman also E&E News.
Indeed, while the CPSC has denied that the commission has plans to ban gas stoves, it still is opening the public comment period for a potential rule change on March 1. Trumka has stated that “with enough public pressure” through that commenting period, the federal government can get new regulations against gas stoves “on the books by next year.”
Energy’s new potential standard would begin in 2027 if passed. Combined with a potential new regulation from CPSC, it’s safe to say that new gas stoves will only get more expensive as companies revamp their products to meet the new requirements — if gas stoves aren’t banned first or regulated out of the marketplace.
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