American Gas Association files opposition to EPA’s natural gas furnace elimination efforts
The American Gas Association (AGA) recently filed comments opposing an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal to eliminate natural gas furnaces from the ENERGY STAR efficiency program to reduce pollution and energy consumption.
Blasting the proposal as a sweeping change devoid of supporting data, the AGA argued that the agency lacks any justification for the shift away from natural gas furnaces. If held to, the EPA proposal would see ENERGY STAR labeling and promotion of residential gas furnaces phased out entirely and limit the certification to fewer electric heating appliances.
“Customers deserve accurate and complete information on the energy efficiency of all appliances,” AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert said. “This proposal would implement the very opposite of that —depriving consumers of accurate information about residential heating equipment and leading to higher energy use and emissions. The proposal would undercut the very purpose of the ENERGY STAR program.”
If allowed to proceed, the AGA claimed that the EPA’s proposal would discourage customers from selecting efficient gas appliances, which could reap significant unnecessary costs. An internal analysis from the pro-gas group stated that an ENERGY STAR-qualifying natural gas furnace energy costs $584, compared to $971 for a qualifying electric air-source heat pump.
The Energy Star certification program began under the EPA in 1992 as a way for the government to promote energy-efficient products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save on consumer costs. In 2022, clean energy nonprofits submitted comments arguing that natural gas-powered appliances should no longer be considered for the program, claiming that they did not work to reduce energy consumption, improve energy security or reduce pollution.
“More efficient gas appliances may incrementally reduce this pollution, but they cannot eliminate the inherent climate and health impacts of burning fossil fuels in our homes and buildings,” they wrote at the time.
The AGA disputes this and said the EPA’s claims about natural gas furnaces were false. It said the agency provided no supporting analysis that there would be significant emissions reductions from its proposal even when source emissions from power generation are considered, potentially leading to the opposite of the agency’s desires: more emissions, pollution, and consumption.
“EPA has failed to provide any data to justify this sort of change,” Harbert said. “With this proposal, EPA has ignored not only the fact that gas appliances today can be more energy and emissions efficient than their electrical alternatives but also the potential decarbonization benefits that hydrogen and renewable natural gas can bring to the table. We urge EPA to withdraw this poorly conceived policy.”