Energy-Efficiency Standards

A coalition of 11 states plus the City of New York filed suit the week of June 12, 2017 against Rick Perry, in his capacity as secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), for DOE's failure to timely publish in the Federal Register finalized energy-efficiency standards governing five particular products: portable air conditioners; uninterruptible power suppliers (i.e., backup battery packs); air compressors; walk-in refrigerators and freezers; and commercial packaged boilers. 

The action was led by Xavier Becerra, the state attorney general of California, and his counterpart in New York, Eric Schneiderman, with the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A similar, but separate, case was instituted in the same court by the Natural Resources Defense Council, joined by Earth-justice and the Sierra Club. 

Both complaints allege that new energy-efficiency guidelines for the named products, which were promulgated by DOE last December, have unlawfully languished under the Trump administration. The plaintiffs contend that because the proposed standards had already gone through rigorous vetting and reflected a common-sense approach to battling greenhouse gas emissions, there was no justification for DOE to now stall and delay publication of the rules. In statements accompanying their filings, the litigants averred that all five energy-efficiency proposals had been found to be cost-effective as well as of significant benefit to the environment. 

They pointed out that the requisite 45-day notice period for comments on the rules had tolled in early 2017, with no party seeking any corrections or changes, except for a minor one for the commercial package boiler standard. The complainants charged that by not publishing the finalized standards in the Federal Register, DOE is in violation of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1987, which requires DOE to regularly review and update energy-efficiency standards applicable to typical household and small commercial appliances and other products. 

According to the parties, given that the standards cannot be enforced until formally published, the federal government is costing consumers millions of dollars in forgone savings opportunities. (Case Nos. 3:17- cv-03404, 4:17-cv-03406)