Settlement Reached in Case Disputing DOE Walk-in Coolers and Freezers Rule
AHRI petitioned for review of the new energy efficiency standards in August 2014
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) today announced that a settlement has been reached in litigation that it brought against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) challenging DOE’s final rule, issued June 3, 2014, setting energy efficiency standards for commercial walk-in coolers and freezers (WICF). The settlement comprehensively includes all parties to the litigation.
In briefs filed earlier this year, AHRI argued that DOE had erred in numerous ways in adopting the WICF rule — including by setting internally inconsistent standards that were unachievable using economically feasible technologies, by performing flawed cost-benefit work, and by failing to properly analyze small-business impacts. AHRI also stated that it had given DOE the opportunity to fix several of its errors in a petition for reconsideration. DOE maintained that it lacked the power to fix such errors absent a court order.