Today, APGA submitted a joint petition for rulemaking to the Department of Energy (DOE) requesting that DOE issue a rule clarifying that efficiency standards, such as a standard that only condensing appliances could meet, that would eliminate the availability of non-condensing appliances would violate the Energy Policy and Conversation Act (EPCA). As communicated in the petition, “EPCA expressly prohibits the adoption of an energy conservation standard if it has been shown that the standard would have the effect of eliminating a currently-available product feature from the market.” APGA’s Direct Use Task Group played the lead role in the development of this petition and joining APGA in the petition were Spire, the American Gas Association, the Natural Gas Supply Association, and the National Propane Gas Association.
While APGA and its members are strong supporters of energy efficiency, in fact the direct use of natural gas is one of the most efficient uses of energy at 90 percent, we are concerned that a proposed rule that requires the replacement of non-condensing appliances with condensing appliances, such as the furnace rule, will ultimately undermine efficiency goals while significantly increasing consumer costs. This is primarily due to the fact that condensing furnaces have additional venting requirements associated with their installation, which add significant dollars to their overall costs. This raises serious fuel switching issues for APGA and its members, as many consumers, especially those in fixed and low income brackets, will, in the case of the furnace rule, switch to a lower first-cost, albeit less efficient, electric heat to avoid the installation costs of a condensing furnace. APGA has maintained that having separate product classes for condensing and non-condensing appliances is the best approach towards improving energy efficiency, maintaining consumer choice and ensuring affordable energy costs.
Additional information on the filing of the petition is available in the General Counsel Report included within this weekly update. In addition, a copy of the petition is available on the APGA website. We will now await action by DOE on the petition, one of the first steps will be publication of the petition in the Federal Register. For questions on this article, please contact Dave Schryver of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
dschryver@apga.org.