Photo by Rachael SaBell, The Luupe
Efficiency is a buzz word in the federal government lately for all the wrong reasons.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is taking a metaphorical chainsaw (and in one case wielding a literal chainsaw) to agencies and programs that serve, in many cases, as the lifeblood of our country, while making downright false claims about government spending. It is increasingly clear that there is nothing efficient about this process.
Meanwhile, Trump officials at the Department of Energy are delaying key energy efficiency standards. Former fracking CEO and current Energy Secretary Chris Wright used his first Secretarial Order to attack efficient appliances.
Following years of delay, DOE finally began, last year, to update efficiency standards for dishwashers, ceiling fans, water heaters, refrigerators, and other consumer products. The agency is legally required by Congress to periodically update these standards. Many had not been touched for over a decade and the court mandated action on the overdue standards.
Republicans in Congress are now rolling back those DOE measures that would improve the energy efficiency of appliances on the market that would actually save money for American consumers.
To make matters worse, as they are fighting to keep the most inefficient appliances on the market, they are also working to keep consumers in the dark by rolling back labeling requirements that help families and businesses make informed choices about energy-efficient products. The current labeling requirements mean consumers can quickly access clear and reliable energy efficiency information on easy-to-read EnergyGuide labels seen on new appliances.
Appliance energy efficiency is important for a number of reasons.
If appliances use less energy to do the same job, that means the grid can better meet the demand from more users. It means the energy system is more reliable in the face of extreme weather events. It means less pollution if the appliance runs on fossil fuels or if the electricity is generated by a gas power plant.
Energy efficiency also means lower energy bills for the consumer. All the standards finalized by the Biden administration were estimated to cut the average household's utility bills by $107 and collectively cut the annual utility bills of businesses by $2 billion according to an analysis by the Appliance Standards Awareness Project and PIRG.
Saving money on energy bills is more critical than ever as the cost of living gets more and more expensive, thanks in large part to our country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Households that use methane gas for space or water heating and cooking will face a 21% increase in cost in 2025, according to the latest forecast from IEA. Global dynamics, including the unfettered buildout of U.S. methane gas exports, feed into this volatility in cost, but the increase in rates can also be traced back to for-profit gas corporations charging customers billions for unnecessary replacements of aging methane gas pipelines. Some estimates put the bill of pipeline replacement at as much as $6 million per mile.
Even households that do not directly use gas for space or water heating or cooking are impacted by its unstable and increasing price.
A Vox article last summer summarized one finding from an Energy Innovation report, writing: “States where residents are seeing electricity bills that outpace inflation tend to be the ones with the highest reliance on natural gas… Some states in New England, including Massachusetts, have depended on natural gas for around 60 percent of electricity generation since 2020 and have seen prices increase by around 10 percent in the same period.”
Contrary to what Republicans and their donors in the fossil fuel industry would like us to believe, clean energy actually reduces energy costs over time and does not drive higher power prices. The same can not be said for fossil fuels.
Sierra Club and partners across the country are fighting against the corporate greed that is keeping us locked into this harmful system. We are fighting for an equitable transition to clean, affordable energy.
While that fight is ongoing on many fronts, replacing old appliances with highly efficient electric options can lower energy bills now. But there is an upfront cost to purchasing any new appliance that can be prohibitive. In other cases, landlords or homeowners may not understand the benefits of switching to clean and safe, electric appliances.
That is where federal and state rebates and tax breaks offer savings to consumers that help people better afford appliances that will use less energy, reduce pollution in homes, and save money in the long term.
WATCH: Rebates and tax incentives help homeowners save money, support domestic manufacturing, and can allow restaurants to make a healthier kitchen and reduce costs.
These incentives support the consumer, but they also support domestic manufacturing and local jobs.
Yet, the Trump administration and DOGE have decided these programs that save people money and benefit the economy need to go.
In a confusing executive order on his first day in office, Trump declared an energy “emergency” while also slashing investment in renewable energy and railing against efforts that promote energy savings. That order called for a freeze of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act for state programs that support consumers in choosing and affording energy efficient products.
For an administration that created a whole new agency supposedly dedicated to efficiency, it is perplexing how committed Trump and the GOP seem to be to ensuring things are less efficient, from slashing vital government programs to propping up outdated technology.
The American people will ultimately pay the price for these inefficiencies.