The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is receiving criticism for its updated data analysis regarding the agency’s proposed regulations on gas stoves, which now projects even lower savings for consumers than the already meager numbers.
The new data shows that “savings are even less than DOE originally projected and are almost negligible,” the industry group Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) said about the changes in an Aug. 3 press release. “DOE’s original proposal was to save consumers 13 cents per month in utility costs over the life of gas cooking products. The revised data reduces consumer savings to just 9 cents per month,” it pointed out.
“The changes in energy savings projected by DOE primarily result from DOE recognizing that the currently available cooking products are more efficient than its earlier analysis assumed.”
At 9 cents a month, the projected savings will come to just $1.08 per year. Over a decade, that amounts to $10.80 in savings.
The department proposed new energy efficiency standards for gas stoves back in February. In a March 14 opinion piece at Washington Examiner, Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) warned that stringent energy performance standards would mean that 96 percent of conventional gas stoves could potentially be eliminated from the market.
“In fact, it is essentially an outright ban on gas stoves,” she said.
Ms. Lesko also highlighted the meager savings resulting from the new standards, arguing that people will not be willing to trade “such substantially decreased functionality and features for minuscule savings.”
In its comments submitted to the energy department, AHAM pointed out that many consumer features on gas stoves, like simmer burners and high-input rate burners, must be protected if the department was to implement its energy efficiency proposal.
However, the DOE has “still has not made any changes” to the proposed standards, it said, according to the release.
“This means consumers could still lose access to features and many currently available gas cooking appliance models—in exchange for saving only pennies each month.”
