EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) sent a letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm urging her to withdraw the Department of Energy’s proposed rule to make ceiling fans more energy efficient.
In June, the department proposed new standards that would apply to standard residential ceiling fans and cut electricity costs caused by fans.
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“DOE's analyses indicate that the proposed energy conservation standards for ceiling fans would save a significant amount of energy,” the proposed rule published by the federal register reads.
According to the rule, the new fans would save households a lifetime average of $39.84. However, the increased cost of the proposed standards for ceiling fans on manufactures is estimated to be "$86.6 million per year in increased equipment costs." But, "the estimated annual benefits are $281.1 million from reduced equipment operating costs."
The public comment period on the rule ended this week on Aug. 22.
The proposed rule has drawn pushback from Republicans in Congress, including Bice, who referenced that in her home of Oklahoma City, temperatures are reaching 105 degrees Fahrenheit. She said that she worries the new regulations would lead to less affordable cooling measures and that “access to affordable cooling options during these summer months is a serious matter.”
“We are currently in a period of hot summer weather but also a time of high inflation,” Bice writes in her letter. “It is unconscionable that your department would seek to limit the options of the American people to stay cool in their own homes at a time like this.”
She said she “strongly opposes” the measure and urges the department to withdraw the proposed rule.
This is one of many rules the Biden administration has proposed that Republicans have vocally opposed. One was a ban on gas stoves, which became the subject of legislation to block the rule. Bice claimed that “heavyhanded regulations” such as this limit the free market and drive up prices for the public and small businesses.
“Once again, the Biden administration is using the power of the pen to attempt to control every aspect of how we live in our homes,” Bice said in a statement. “Instead of regulating ceiling fans, they should focus on providing relief to American families that are suffering under Bidenomics. The power of the executive state has grown too large, and I will continue working to hold them accountable.”
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Earlier in the week, Republican members of the House Small Business Committee also wrote to the Energy Department opposing the ceiling fan rule, saying that it could drastically affect small businesses that manufacture fans.
“This rule would require numerous small business fan manufacturers to redesign their products and may put between 10 and 30 percent of small business ceiling fan manufacturers out of business,” the committee said.