Energy Scorecard

The American Energy Alliance supports S.J. Res. 58 the Congressional Review Act resolution disapproving of the Department of Energy\'s energy conservation standards for consumer furnaces. These new extreme rules eliminate the most affordable home heating options from the market, limiting choice and raising costs for consumers. Replacement options that would qualify are much more expensive and in some cases would require expensive retrofits to homes in order to install necessary exhaust connections. This rulemaking is not an effort to save consumers money, it is an ideological attack on certain energy sources, specifically natural gas, in an attempt to force electrification of home heating. Gas is affordable and highly efficient at home heating, especially at very low temperatures. Electric resistance heating is inefficient and with rising electricity prices, set to become even more expensive in the future. The Department of Energy\'s cost savings claims do not take into account the recent developments in electricity markets where rapidly increasing demand from data processing has begun to increase electricity prices. With higher electricity prices in the future plus the higher up-front installation costs of heat pumps, this rulemaking will be doubly damaging to Americans. This misguided and ideological attack on American living standards should be rejected. A YES vote on S.J. Res. 58 is a vote in support of free markets and affordable energy.