The Biden administration finalized a new regulation taking aim at certain pool pump motors and their energy efficiency levels.
The Department of Energy (DOE) published the new rule in the Federal Register on Sept. 28 establishing higher energy conservation and efficiency standards for pool pump motors that manufacturers will have to comply with starting in September 2025. Pool pump motors are the latest appliance to find themselves in the administration’s regulatory crosshairs, as the DOE has already pursued updates to energy efficiency standards for products like water heaters and portable gas generators.
The pool pump motors rule could cost consumers at least $2.6 billion over its lifetime in equipment costs, but the DOE estimates that the rule will save consumers nearly $8 billion in operating costs while providing $2 billion of health benefits and $2 billion of “climate benefits,” according to the Federal Register entry. (RELATED: ‘Decarbonizing Buildings’: White House, Governors Coalition Pledge To Massively Increase Amount Of Heat Pumps)
AOC Attacks Republicans Over Gas Stoves
OCASIO-CORTEZ: “I do think it’s funny, the…absolute…Republican meltdown…’You can’t take my gas stove…How dare you…You have a gas stove.’
“First of all, I rent.” pic.twitter.com/F32HhSzEga— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 13, 2023
Flurida, a leading pool company, commented on the rule’s regulatory docket that the regulation will force consumers to buy models of pumps that cost about $1,000 compared to the average price of $499 for less efficient models that will not be in compliance with the rule. The DOE’s economic analysis is “unviable and will hurt the American consumer,” the company added in its comment.
“DOE concludes that the standards adopted in this final rule represent the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in the significant conservation of energy,” the agency wrote in the Federal Register entry. “Specifically, equipment are able to achieve these standard levels using technology options currently available… as for economic justification, DOE’s analysis shows that the benefits of the standards exceed the burdens of the standards.”
The regulation sets energy conservation and efficiency standards for “extra-small,” small and standard sized pool pump motors, with the motors classified by their power rather than by their physical size. Pool pump motors ranging from 0.5 total horsepower to 5 total horsepower fall under the rule’s purview.
The rule does not apply to pool pumps, themselves, which are “being addressed” in another rulemaking, according to the Federal Register entry.
There are more than 8.5 million residential pools installed in the U.S., and about 200,000 new swimming pools built each year, according to Energy Star.
The White House and the DOE did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.