Podcasts: July 21, 2014

A: The lawsuit is a result of a direct final rule that the Department of Energy finalized in October of 2011, which seems like a really long time ago. The DOE used a direct final rule procedure – which allows them to expedite the process when there is anonymous agreement and no opposition — which wasn’t the case in this regulation. In December 2011, the American Public Gas Association (APGA) filed a petition with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Shortly thereafter, HARDI and ACCA filed petitions to intervene on behalf of APGA. On the opposing side was the DOE and, intervening on their behalf was a list of energy-efficiency advocates and AHRI [Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute]. That’s how this got started …

Q: This is quite a victory for HARDI, isn’t it?

A: It is an absolute victory for us. Our members were very clear in what we wanted. We wanted an avenue to sell our inventory so that no one would be subject to a severe financial loss on the date the standard went into effect. This is an installation ban by law versus a manufactured-by-date ban. This is completely different than what we’re used to as an industry. We now have 18 months, or a season and a half, to sell existing inventory, which is what our membership signaled as a must have. They also wanted no distributor liability on the enforcement of this. We secured that as well … On the final date, we are in a substantially better place as an industry because of this.

Jon Melchi
Director of Government Affairs
Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI)

Click here to hear the rest of the converstation.

Publication date: 6/17/2013