https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-biden-admin-relentless-assault-americans-fridges-dishwashers
A handful of House Democrats joined Republicans on legislation aimed at blocking new Biden administration energy efficiency standards for refrigerators and dishwashers.
The Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act by Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., and Refrigerator Freedom Act by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, passed along party lines Tuesday evening.
Seven House Democrats voted for each bill. The dishwasher standards legislation passed 214-192 with no GOP dissent. The refrigerator bill passed 212-192, with one Republican voting against it.
Both bills are aimed at prohibiting the Secretary of Energy from enacting and enforcing “energy efficiency standards for residential refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers that are not technologically feasible and economically justified,” the House GOP has said.
It would also block rules that did not result in “significant conservation of energy.”
Langworthy accused the Biden DOE of a “relentless assault on efficient, affordable and reliable appliances for everyday Americans” during debate on the bill Tuesday.
The Department of Energy has said its new proposed rule on dishwashers would save Americans $652 million in utility payments and would cut the appliances’ water usage by more than a quarter.
But House Republicans argued “DOE’s own analysis finds that efficiency mandates could increase the upfront cost by 28%, and it could take consumers 12 years to pay back the increased costs on a product that may only last 7-12 years.”
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., claimed Republicans’ calculations were out of date and related to an earlier rule during debate on the bills, maintaining the payback time for dishwashers under the new standard was 3.9 years.
