Coalition Urges Review of Building Electrification

Industry groups voiced concerns about building electrification policies enacted under
the previous administration. On February 21, the National Energy & Fuels Institute
(NEFI) and other national organizations expressed their concerns in a letter to Secretary
Chris Wright of the Department of Energy and Administrator Lee Zeldin of the
Environmental Protection Agency.
The letter, which was submitted by the Institute along with the American Public Gas
Association, American Supply Association, National Association of Oil & Energy Service
Professionals, National Propane Gas Association, and the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling
Contractors (PHCC) National Association, commended both Wright and Zeldin for their
commitment to promoting affordability and consumer choice, and asked that they give
special attention to electrification programs established by the Inflation Reduction Act
(IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), many of which were “designed
to support state and local efforts to ban conventional heating fuels and appliances and
force residential electrification, policies that would exponentially increase the cost of
housing while limiting access to affordable home comfort solutions.”
“The previous administration’s building electrification policies were deeply flawed. They
fail to account for source emissions and the extraordinary costs associated with removal
of existing appliances and heating systems and the installation of all-electric appliances
and air source heat pumps, nor did they consider whether electrification was either feasible or appropriate for certain households. For many residences, particularly those
in states with older buildings and colder climates, these costs can exceed $30,000.
Furthermore, these policies do not recognize the benefits of renewable heating fuels or
the installation of more efficient liquid- and gas-fired systems.”
The coalition further requests that the agencies withdraw and review all related
guidance and “best practices” documents, including those provided to states regarding
heat pump rebate program requirements, and that the administration conduct a
comprehensive review of all building electrification programs.
In addition, industry groups noted that the Trump administration froze nearly all
funding for the IRA and IIJA via executive orders, including state grant funding for heat
pump rebates and the New England Heat Pump Accelerator program. A number of U.S.
District Courts issued temporary restraining orders for the release of these funds, but all
electrification funding under the IRA remained frozen, the groups said as of this writing.
The “complex situation… will most likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court,” the
groups said.