Supreme Court Tosses Biden-Era ‘Energy Efficiency’ Standards For Gas Appliances

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Supreme Court Tosses Biden-Era ‘Energy Efficiency’ Standards For Gas Appliances

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded a standing lower court ruling Monday regarding energy efficiency regulations on gas furnaces and water heaters from former President Joe Biden’s administration.

The Supreme Court American Gas Association et al v. Department of Energy (DOE) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, citing an April brief filed by the U.S. Solicitor General Dr. John Sauer. The case stems from Biden-era DOE rules that required a 95% efficiency benchmark for natural gas furnaces and commercial water heaters in an update based on the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), according to Utility Drive. It will be heard by the lower court which originally upheld the Biden-era energy policies, but it will now be argued by President Donald Trump’s administration. By vacating the ruling, the Supreme Court determined that the November 2025 ruling of the lower court is no longer in effect. (RELATED: Report: Nuclear Plant Closures Will Negatively Affect Environment And Economy)

The Solicitor General’s April brief argued that the rules were Biden-era standards “would have effectively eliminated the non-condensing” gas furnances and water heaters from the U.S. market. The DOE said standard non-condensing appliances can achieve an 80% efficiency rate, with the approximately 20% loss frequently vented from a chimney, Utility Drive reported. However, condensing appliances can generally achieve 90-95% efficiency rates.

A provision of the EPCA states that DOE standards are not allowed to “reduce consumer choice” under the “features provision,” which includes “performance characteristics,” according to Congress’ website. The Solicitor General’s noted that petitioners argued the previous standing ruling had “an unduly narrow understanding of what constitutes a “performance characteristic.” “Following the change in Administration, the government agrees with that contention,” the brief read, calling on the Supreme Court to vacate the now-defunct ruling.

The AGA approved of the Supreme Court’s decision in a post June 8 to X. The organization previously cited the EPCA’s prohibition on the government eliminating “performance characteristics” and said the DOE acknowledged the rules would take certain appliances off the market and the force significant home renovations in a July 2024 press release.

“The law is clear – DOE is explicitly forbidden to set a standard that eliminates an entire class of appliances from the market,” AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert said at the time.

Industry organizations alleged that the 2025 ruling upholding the Biden-era rules violated the Loper Bright v. Raimondo ruling by the Supreme court, Politico reported. The Loper Bright standard required the government to “exercise independent judgement” when evaluating decisions by agencies. Gas industry organizations argued the 2025 ruling revived a previous approach in their Supreme Court petition.

Advocacy organizations and states backing the Biden-era rules argued the 2025 decision was not a Loper Bright violation, arguing that it’s a “fact-bound” dispute that didn’t require Supreme Court attention, according to the outlet.