Appliance Efficiency Standards Reduce Bills and Peak Demand

RMI calls for strengthening U.S. appliance efficiency standards and warns that proposed rollbacks and legislative changes would raise bills and peak demand.

• Main announcement/action: RMI advocates that the U.S. should strengthen federal appliance efficiency standards and opposes actions that would weaken them; the DOE is required to review standards on an 8-year cycle, in May 2025 DOE proposed rolling back 17 efficiency standards, and the House has passed the Allen bill that would allow DOE to legally revoke existing standards.
• Background and key facts: Studies cited include LBNL (finding households would have paid ~$576 more in 2024 and combined households/businesses saved $105 billion in 2024), ASAP (estimating a 115 GW higher summer peak in 2025 absent standards and potential 32 GW peak reduction by 2040 / 50 GW by 2050 from future standards), and NERC/ICF projections showing large peak growth (winter 228 GW, summer 207 GW from 2025–2035). Compliance dates for future standards are noted as 2027–2036.