AGA files reply brief in Supreme Court petition to vacate Biden-Administration ban on natural gas furnaces, commercial water heaters

The American Gas Association, American Public Gas Association and National Propane Gas Association today filed a reply brief in their petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to grant, vacate and remand the Biden Administration Department of Energy's costly rule banning commonly used natural gas furnace types and commercial water heaters from the market. If allowed to stand, the Biden-era furnace rule would increase costs on American families by banning a popular product class from the market and forcing families to choose between costly renovations and electrification that could increase home energy costs.

The filing follows the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) recent brief to the Supreme Court acknowledging that the prior administration's interpretation of federal law was flawed and asking the Court to strike down the rule and send the case back for reconsideration. DOE agreed that the D.C. Circuit's decision rested on an incorrect interpretation of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), particularly as it relates to consumer access to widely used non-condensing natural gas furnaces and water heaters.

"Retaining access to natural gas appliances for Americans has always been about protecting affordability, consumer choice and the ability of Americans to use the energy systems that work best for their homes and families," said Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the American Gas Association. "We appreciate that DOE has acknowledged the legal flaws in the prior administration's rule and joined our call for the Supreme Court to intervene. Americans should not be forced into costly home retrofits or denied access to the appliances they rely on every day because of unlawful federal overreach."

Failure by the Supreme Court to take up the case and ultimately reverse the decision from the D.C. Circuit Court would not only impact American families' access to gas furnaces, but would also violate the court's recent decision on Loper Bright, restore Chevron deference,and could have broad applications on the interpretation of EPCA leading to further sweeping bans on natural gas appliances. EPCA explicitly bars DOE from adopting efficiency standards that "result in the unavailability" of products with unique "performance characteristics" currently available to consumers.

Natural gas is the most affordable home heating option for Americans and is 3.5 times less costly than electricity for the same amount of energy delivered. Natural gas is projected to remain one-third to one-half the price of other fuels through 2050, according to U.S. government projections, and will be half the cost of electricity this winter according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's winter fuels outlook. Switching to electric heating threatens Americans with higher home energy bills at a time when rising prices remains a top issue for the American public.

Data from the Biden Administration's own DOE shows that the furnace rule would negatively impact costs for 30% of senior-only households, 26% of low-income households and 27% of small business consumers. For households with mobile home gas furnaces, 39% of consumers would be negatively affected by the proposed standard, showing a disproportionate impact on America's low-income households. These numbers are potentially significantly underreported.

In addition to support from the Trump Administration, AGA, APGA and NPGA's petition to the Supreme Court is backed by a broad coalition of 21 states and 10 organizations. Read what they're saying here.

Read the full reply brief here.