American Gas Association opposes DOE’s proposed furnace standards

Following the release of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Furnaces, American Gas Association (AGA) President and CEO Dave McCurdy expressed disapproval of the environmental consequences and economic burdens of the proposed rule.

“AGA is profoundly disappointed that DOE has blatantly ignored well-substantiated concerns expressed by numerous stakeholders, including natural gas utilities, during the past three years of continued discussions about these energy conservation standards for residential furnaces,” McCurdy said.

McCurdy argued that the rule would deliver significantly lower energy savings than the DOE has suggested, owing to an economic model that the AGA has rejected.

“Throughout this process, AGA has brought a rigorous, fact-based approach to our engagement on this rulemaking,” McCurdy said. “We have identified serious structural flaws and have worked consistently to underscore the negative consequences of these flaws, but time and time again these concerns have been put aside — it is now more clear than ever that the administration is more focused on political expedience over technical accuracy. DOE’s own analysis, released in a technical support document that preceded the proposed rule, showed that its rule would cause economic harm to significant fractions of low income consumers, particularly in the southern United States.”

The AGA has predicted that homeowners will be faced with reduced options for gas furnaces, forced to choose between repairing a gas furnace past its recommended lifespan or switching to more expensive alternatives.