The incoming Donald Trump administration’s emerging plans to dismantle U.S. energy efficiency standards will raise energy costs for American families and undermine the country’s economic competitiveness, a veteran energy efficiency advocate warns.
“Electricity, gasoline, and heating fuel bills make up a significant portion of household budgets, and energy efficiency programs offer one of the most effective ways to keep these costs in check,” Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), writes in a recent post.
Measures taken by Washington, like retrofit funding for homes and standards for efficient appliances and cars, have produced real benefits for American households, Nadel says. “Monthly bills shrink when homes are better insulated and appliances consume less power,” he writes. “When vehicles use less fuel, drivers save at the pump.”
Now, acting on Trump’s campaign promises, his advisers plan to reexamine fuel-economy requirements and related standards, Bloomberg reported on November 19.
Nadel writes they may also rescind unspent funds from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which offers incentives to help Americans reduce their energy costs.
“Repealing these programs would directly increase energy consumption, driving up utility and transportation expenses at a time when reducing the cost of living is more critical than ever,” he writes. IRA-funded programs are already making a difference, he adds, many of them designed to help middle- and lower-income households.
And beyond American homes, the national economy stands to suffer if standards are slashed, warns Nadel. “The U.S. faces strong competition in global markets, especially in industries such as manufacturing, transportation, and technology,” he writes. “Policies that support energy-efficient technologies help strengthen and expand American manufacturing by reducing production costs and making U.S. products more competitive in global markets.”
The IRA has done just that by spurring billions of dollars in investments, especially in manufacturing next-gen technologies like advanced batteries and clean energy components, he says. The blog post cites the US$6.3 billion Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP) and the Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) program as examples of how IRA dollars are helping the U.S. assert itself as a major global player in manufacturing while providing well-paying jobs at home—in the Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest.
Recent IDP funding recipients include $75.5 million for an Alabama-based steelmaker to pursue an electric conversion project, $500 million for an Indiana-based cement decarbonization project, and $375 million for a Texas plastic recycling decarbonization project.
48C, which was established in 2009 and renewed and expanded by the IRA, aims to accelerate domestic clean energy manufacturing and reduce emissions at industrial facilities. It has provided billions in tax credits to companies and communities, including “historic energy communities” like those dependent on coal mining or processing.
