AHRI Asks Congress for Energy Policy and Conservation Act Reforms
The current law ‘has not been updated to reflect new technologies and economic realities’
WASHINGTON — Stephen Yurek, president and CEO of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) today called on Congress to reform the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), the law governing product energy efficiency standards. Yurek told members of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power that the current law, at nearly 40 years old, “has not been updated to reflect new technologies and economic realities.”
Yurek said that “consumers are paying a heavy price, both in real monetary costs and in comfort and safety” because of the continuous cycle of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) rulemakings that result in higher and higher energy efficiency levels. “When new equipment costs more than consumers can afford,” he said, “they find alternatives, some of which compromise their comfort and safety, while saving less energy or no energy at all.” Yurek told subcommittee members that while the Clinton administration issued six major efficiency rules over eight years, the current administration issued eight such rules in 2014 alone.