U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1615, the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, by a vote of 248-180.
“The Biden administration is trying to regulate gas stoves and other appliances we use every day. Unless Congress stops this administration’s regulatory tsunami, Americans will lose access to the natural gas appliances they need,” said Barrasso. “Today the House voted to block President Biden’s radical regulations. This will ensure safe, popular gas stoves remain an option for homes and businesses. The work is not over. The Senate should quickly approve our legislation to stop the Biden administration from outlawing gas stoves and other appliances American families depend on.”
Barrasso introduced S. 1043, the Natural Gas Appliance Standards (Natural GAS) Act, on March 29, 2023. The legislation would:
- Require that DOE certify that any stove, water heater, or furnace energy efficiency rule would not result in fuel switching from natural gas to electric appliances;
- Specify that DOE may not put forward a rule that would limit the features of gas stoves, such as quick boil times, number and size of burners, and design of grates;
- Exempt small manufacturers from future energy efficiency rulemakings for stoves, water heaters, and furnaces; and,
- Require that existing energy efficiency labels displayed at the point of sale disclose full-fuel-cycle efficiency, rather than just point-of-use energy consumption. This comprehensive analysis would consider energy consumed to extract and transport fuels, energy losses in power generation, and energy losses in transmission and transportation.