{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-passes-legislation-lower-energy-costs-save-gas-stoves", "Newhouse Passes Legislation to Lower Energy Costs, Save Gas Stoves", "2023-03-30", "2023", "2023-03", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and his House colleagues passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. This legislation would hold the Biden Administration responsible for its war on American energy independence and reverse course on radical policies to help drive down costs for Americans.\n\nRep. Newhouse also voted to pass an amendment to H.R. 1 that will prevent the Department of Energy from implementing strict new regulations that would outlaw most gas stoves on the market today. The amendment would prohibit the DOE from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the proposed energy conservation standard for cooking products.\n\n\u201cThe passage of H.R.1 will finally hold the Biden Administration responsible for its war on American energy and help drive down costs for the hardworking people of Central Washington, said Rep. Newhouse. \u201cThis legislation also includes an essential amendment to prohibit the DOE from implementing strict new regulations that would outlaw most gas stoves on the market today\u2014a draconian measure that would be detrimental for families and small businesses across America, and could be deadly for rural communities like mine. Today is a win for Central Washington and the future of our energy independence.\u201d\n\n\u201cAny efforts to ban highly efficient natural gas stoves should raise alarm bells for the 187 million Americans who depend on this essential fuel every day. Natural gas utilities have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 69% since 1990, and help homeowners reduce their carbon emissions 1.2% every year. The use of natural gas has reduced power sector emissions to 40-year lows and, as an essential back up fuel, has enabled the growth of renewables. We will continue to work with regulators and policymakers to help ensure they have sound data to work with as they approach any issues related to natural gas.\u201d \u2013 Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the American Gas Association\n\n\u201cWhat and how a restaurant prepares its menu are the soul of its business. More than 3 in 4 restaurant kitchens use natural gas to cook, so it\u2019s easy to understand how banning gas stoves used in commercial kitchens could be devastating to the industry. Restaurant owners should have the option to choose the cooking element that best serves their cuisine.\u201d \u2013 National Restaurant Association\n\n\u201cThe proposed DOE standard is not reasonable. A reasonable energy conservation standard for cooking products would not eliminate or reduce cooking features that consumers desire and have grown accustomed to using. AHAM supports a reasonable energy standard, but people should be free to choose what cooking products they prefer in their homes - whether it be gas or electric - and a range of products should be available to consumers that include different features. The home appliance manufacturing industry has strongly supported the Department of Energy (DOE) Appliance Standards Program since it was authorized by Congress in 1975, but this proposal as well as other recent proposed standards are unreasonable.\u201d \u2013 Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM)\n\nRead the full text of H.R. 1 here.\n\nBackground:\n\nEarlier this week, Rep. Newhouse questioned Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about the Administration\u2019s proposed gas stoves ban. Watch her response here. Below are the correct numbers which Secretary Granholm failed to address:\n\nIn early February, DOE published a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNOPR) and Technical Support Document (TSD) regarding energy conservation standards for consumer conventional cooking products.\n\nIn the SNOPR and TSD, DOE estimated only 4% of gas stove tops on the market met the proposed maximum rate (1,204 kBtu/yr) meaning 96% failed (See TSD, Ch. 8, Tbl. 8.2.43.)\n\nDOE released a Notification of Data Availability (NODA) in late February, after publishing their SNOPR and TSD, explaining they excluded gas stove tops which did not have one high input rate burner and continuous cast iron grate. Therefore, the TSD did not include lower-end/baseline gas cooktops without the more desirable features that many higher-end models have.\n\nEarlier this month, Rep. Newhouse joined several dozen House colleagues in sending a letter to DOE Secretary Granholm expressing opposition to finalizing the proposed rule.\n\nAt a recent House Appropriations Energy & Water Subcommittee hearing, Rep. Newhouse asked Secretary Granholm about these findings and inquired as to why DOE initiated this proposed ruling for the first time and whether or not DOE has engaged stakeholders.\n\nSecretary Granholm responded saying the 96% statistic was incorrect because DOE chose a test group of gas stoves which were most likely to be impacted \u2013 higher-end stoves. She said 50% of the gas stoves on the market wouldn\u2019t be impacted based on the NODA data.\n\nDOE\u2019s estimates are consistently changing. Anywhere between 50-96% of the gas stove top models currently in the marketplace would be incompliant with the proposed maximum rate.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T23:30:02Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-passes-legislation-lower-energy-costs-save-gas-stoves"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0081371292471886, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}