A federal appeals court struck down Department of Energy (DOE) regulatory actions targeting dishwashers as part of the Biden administration's aggressive climate and energy efficiency agenda.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling late Monday overturning the DOE's decision in 2022 to repeal a Trump-era regulation governing water use in dishwashers and clothes washers. The panel's ruling is a victory for both Republican states which sued DOE over its actions and consumer advocacy groups which have argued against overly-burdensome standards for home appliances.
"Even if DOE could consider dishwashers’ and clothes washers’ ‘efficiency’ in both ‘energy use’ and ‘water use,’ the 2020 Rules likely promoted greater efficiency in both categories than the Repeal Rule," the court's decision stated. "Assuming both energy conservation metrics are on the table, the States argue, and DOE does not appear to dispute, that one important aspect of that problem is whether appliance regulations actually reduce energy and water consumption."
