By Jonathan Stempel
Aug 11 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a Biden administration-era rule setting efficiency standards for gas and electric stoves and ovens, saying the agency improperly bypassed public comment procedures.
In a 3-0 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of seven Republican-led states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — that challenged the Department of Energy's "direct final rule"
for consumer-grade stoves and ovens.
The August 2024 rule was intended to limit how much energy consumers use in kitchen appliances, and to ban an older technology known as linear power supplies.
Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham said the Energy Department should not have fast-tracked the rule, knowing that numerous states opposed a 2023 attempt to enact similar efficiency standards.
He also dismissed the rule as part of a push by former President Joe Biden's administration to make home appliances "more expensive and less useful."
Direct final rules are typically reserved for uncontroversial matters.
The Energy Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It's unclear whether the Trump administration would still defend the rule. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has long criticized energy conservation rules, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright pledged last month to permanently restrict efficiency mandates for home appliances that "raise costs and disrupt consumer choice."
EVADING CONTROVERSY
Oldham, a Trump appointee, said the Energy Department relied on support for its proposed rule from several industry groups, "environmental activists," California, Massachusetts and New York.
The judge said "it cannot be contended with a straight face" that those Democratic-led states fairly represented the entire country.
He also said the department failed to consider whether making appliances more technologically complex in the name of efficiency would reduce reliability or increase associated costs.
"The previous administration’s gas-stove measures were among its most controversial energy proposals," Oldham wrote. "The idea that all that controversy could be elided using the DFR—a mechanism designed for consensus rulemaking—is untenable."
Circuit Judges Catharina Haynes and James Ho joined Oldham's decision. Haynes is an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, and Ho was appointed by Trump.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
