The Nasty Spiteful Hatred of the Bidenestas for Anything Natural Gas

Well, the faceless bureaucrats (and agents of NGOs) who constitute the Biden Adminstration are taking as many last shots at natural gas as they possivly can in the three weeks left of their corrupt rule, as this story from the Washington Free Beacon reveals:

The Biden administration finalized climate regulations to ban most natural gas-powered instantaneous water heaters—a move that critics say will drive up costs for consumers.

The Department of Energy—which formally published the rules the day after Christmas—didn’t issue a press release announcing the action, a departure from past appliance regulations. The published rules say the regulations are expected to help the climate by curbing carbon dioxide emissions.

Overall, under the regulations, roughly 40 percent of the new tankless water heaters available in the United States today will be taken off the market by 2029. Experts and industry officials say that will force consumers to purchase either more expensive or less efficient water heater models…

The move represents the latest climate-related action taken by the Biden administration in the weeks following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump has vowed to roll back a wide swath of the climate regulations issued under President Joe Biden in an effort to boost energy production and drive economic growth…

"It's one more example of an appliance regulation that raises costs and reduces choices," Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the Washington Free Beacon. "It bans an entire category of tankless water heaters and the ones that are most affordable."

"This is all part of the climate change agenda," Lieberman continued. "One of the things we see is an antipathy towards natural gas versions of appliances because natural gas is a fossil fuel and they want to electrify everything. When you see bad regulations from the Biden administration, usually it has something to do with climate change."

The rules apply to instantaneous water heaters, of which there are two types: non-condensing and condensing. But the rules hike efficiency requirements to a threshold that only condensing models can meet, effectively banning the cheaper but less efficient non-condensing models.

As a result, after the rules are fully implemented in late 2029, consumers will be forced to buy pricier models or cheaper non-instantaneous storage tank water heaters. Tank water heaters are less efficient than the models being banned by the Department of Energy…

Rinnai America, which is the nation’s only major manufacturer of tankless water heaters, stands to suffer from the regulations—the company recently constructed a $70 million 360,000-square-foot factory in Georgia to manufacture non-condensing gas water heaters for the American market. That facility employs hundreds of locals.

[T]he company unveiled its plans for the facility in 2020 after Trump’s efforts to boost American manufacturing. "When the rule goes into effect, all that manufacturing will basically be irrelevant," he added. "A lot of the major equipment that we've invested in will basically have to be scrapped."

The American Gas Association had this to say:

“DOE’s decision to ban an entire segment of instantaneous water heaters is deeply concerning and irresponsible,” said Matthew Agen, AGA Chief Counsel, Energy. “The final rule is a violation of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), which prohibits DOE from promulgating a standard that renders a product with a distinct performance characteristic unavailable. To make matters worse, DOE’s own analysis claims that the average life-cycle cost savings would amount to barely $112 over the entire 20-year average product life. DOE’s final rule is unjustifiable on legal and practical grounds.”

The higher costs imposed by this rule create an average payback period of more than twelve years for customers. A full 40% of customers directly impacted by the rule would see a net cost increase from this rule, rather than even minimal savings. DOE’s estimate of increased cost to customers is not reflective of real-world situations, with direct pricing information from a manufacturer suggesting that the difference in average product price alone is approximately $450 – 200% greater than the $231 difference claimed by DOE to justify the rule. Moreover, the customers most likely to opt for more affordable non-condensing water heaters tend to be low-income and senior households.

“Stakeholders, including AGA have made these issues known to DOE throughout this process, and regret that DOE chose not to incorporate our feedback into the final rule,” continued Agen. “Forcing low-income and senior customers to pay far more upfront is particularly concerning. DOE’s decision to go ahead with a flawed final rule is deeply disappointing.”

AGA is currently awaiting a ruling on a separate lawsuit that covers similar legal issues regarding natural gas furnaces and commercial water heaters. If the rulemaking in AGA v. DOE is struck down, it will have significant implications for the legality of this rulemaking.

More information about the differences between condensing and non-condensing natural gas water heaters and furnaces is available here.

This is, of course, all virtue signaling and climate lawfare of a sort. The Bidenestas know Trump will cancel the regulations, but they want to create trouble and an excuse to sue the incoming administration. It’s pure nastiness of a Leninist variety, which is what happens when you elect a corpse and unnamed bureaucrats loyal to an unofficial agenda pretend to be him and engage in these hateful tactics. The victims, though, are homeowners and buyers of modest means, who, as usual, are treated as mere collateral damage in this struggle for power to control all our lives and enrich elites.

Hat Tip: D.S.

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