US customers could face higher energy bills, experts have warned, amid reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to end the Energy Star program whose blue labels have certified energy efficiency on home appliances for more than 30 years.
“If you wanted to raise families’ energy bills, getting rid of the Energy Star label would be a pretty good way,” said Steven Nadel, executive director of the non-profit research organization the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
“This would take away basic information from consumers who want to choose cost-saving products easily. There’s a reason this program has been so popular with consumers and manufacturers alike.”
In March, hundreds of companies and groups signed a letter urging the EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, to maintain full funding and staffing levels in the program. The reports of its elimination come after Donald Trump has railed against showers and toilets that conserve water. In April, he signed an executive order to “restore shower freedom”.
The plans to close the popular Energy Star program, first reported by CNN and the Washington Post, would come as part of wider agency cuts and the dissolution of the EPA’s office of atmospheric protection (OAP) and the office of air quality planning and standards.
The plans to close the popular Energy Star program, first reported by CNN and the Washington Post, came after an OAP staff meeting on Monday.
The New York Times reported that staff were told: “The Energy Star program and all the other climate work, outside of what’s required by statute, is being de-prioritized and eliminated.”
The EPA on Tuesday declined to comment specifically on Energy Star but said: “EPA is delivering organizational improvements to the personnel structure that will directly benefit the American people.”
In the letter sent to the EPA in March, nearly three dozen trade industry groups and appliance companies including the Chamber of Commerce, Bosch, Carrier and the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute said Energy Star was a good “non-regulatory” collaboration between the private sector and federal government.
“Eliminating it will not serve the American people. In fact, because the Energy Star brand is highly recognizable to consumers, it is likely that, should the program be eliminated, it will be supplanted by initiatives that drive results counter to the goals of this administration such as decreased features, functionality, performance, or increased costs.”
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Other OAP programs that are uncertain amid the reorganization include the voluntary methane reporting program for the oil and gas sector.
Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said ending the program would raise costs for consumers. “Let’s be clear: Cutting the popular Energy Star program – which helps everyday households and businesses save on their energy bills – would mark another rash attempt by this administration to line the pockets of billionaires and utility companies at the expense of hardworking Americans,” she said in a statement.
Reuters contributed to reporting
