The Department of Energy is proposing regulations that will set energy consumption limits for gas appliances, gas stoves, and electric stoves. This is now the second federal agency to look into regulations on gas stoves.
The proposed regulation will set limits on energy consumption, and this newest proposal comes just a few weeks after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission was considering regulating gas stoves over health concerns. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had tweeted a link to a study that said 12% of childhood asthma cases were related to gas stoves and said that the government "must fix this" by increasing access to electric stove tops.
Gas stoves are used for cooking by 40% of households, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The proposal also says gas stoves use more energy and cost consumers more to use than electric stoves.
The standards that are being proposed will focus on the energy consumption of the stove and will require that the stove meet the efficiency thresholds set by the new regulations.
The president of the American Gas Association said, “We are concerned that this is another attempt by the Federal government to use regulations to remove viable and efficient natural gas products from the market.”
The U.S. Department of Energy will be accepting comments regarding this proposed rule until April 3, 2023. If you would like to submit a comment, you can use the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov under docket number EERE-2014-BT-STD-0005.
Reader discussion:
Do you prefer gas stoves over electric? Is this an overreach by the government or is this new proposed regulation necessary?
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