‘Counterproductive’: Biden Energy Dep’t Hit With Lawsuit After Cracking Down On Appliances Used By Millions

A pro-free market organization is taking the Biden administration to court in an effort to block government rules targeting a bevy of appliances used by millions of Americans.

 The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday seeking injunctive and declaratory relief against the DOE’s water efficiency standards for clothes washers and dishwashers. In its complaint, CEI alleges that the agency exceeded its authority by issuing the efficiency rules, which CEI describes as “counterproductive” and bad for consumers.

“DOE has gone beyond its statutory authority in increasing the stringency of water efficiency rules of certain consumer appliances without lawful authority,” CEI’s complaint states. “More precisely, DOE lacks the authority to increase the stringency of such rules for appliances other than showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals. This lawsuit seeks to confine the actions of the DOE to the exercise of its lawful statutory authority.”

More than 80% of American households have a clothes washing machine, according to Statista. About three in every four American homes have a dishwasher, according to the Consumer Federation of America.

The DOE issued its water efficiency standards for clothes washers in February, weeks after the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asserted that it “is unclear that DOE has statutory authority to regulate water use in dishwashers and clothes washers,” and that some nominally efficient models “make Americans use more energy and more water for the simple reason that purportedly ‘energy efficient’ appliances do not work.” The agency issued its rule for dishwashers in April.

Beyond clothes washers and dishwashers, the Biden administration and the DOE have advanced efficiency regulations targeting a bevy of appliances, including furnaces, water heaters, pool pump motors, portable gas-powered generators and more. The regulatory blitz on appliances is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to reduce carbon emissions in nearly every aspect of American life in order to fight climate change.

“The Energy Department’s regulations are counterproductive and anti-consumer, and they appear to be lawless, as well,” Dan Greenberg, general counsel at CEI, said of the lawsuit. “Whether it is good policy to set a water cap that requires appliances to run multiple, wasteful cycles just to get clothes and dishes clean is a question for our elected officials in Congress to debate. The question for the court is whether regulators should be allowed to ignore the text of congressional statutes to achieve their own policy goals.”

The DOE did not respond immediately to a request for comment.