SEEC Building Resilient Housing Task Force Slams Trump Administration’s Illegal Attack on Home Energy Savings

Washington, D.C. – The Co-Chairs of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Building Resilient Housing Task Force Reps. Dave Min (CA-47) and Johnny Olszewski (MD-02) released the following statement in response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) recently released guidance on the home energy rebate programs created under Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. 

“The Trump Administration’s new guidance for the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate (HEEHR) program is an illegal and indefensible attack on cost-savings and consumer choice at a moment when residential gas prices are increasing twice as fast as electricity bills here in America. After refusing to release funding to dozens of states for more than a year and a half, the Department of Energy’s most recent reckless move narrows the eligibility of the HEEHR program by prohibiting states from allowing consumers to replace outdated, inefficient non-electric appliances with modern electric appliances. This is a direct contradiction to the letter of the law, which explicitly allows for that exact type of replacement,” said the Task Force Co-Chairs. “State HEEHR programs are voluntary, consumer-driven programs designed to give families the freedom to upgrade to cost-saving, energy-efficient home appliances. This program was expected to save low-income households up to $1,000 per year, which is real, meaningful relief for Americans who have already seen their energy bills increase by more than 30% over the past four years. It is staggering the lengths to which the Trump Administration will go to manufacture yet another cost-of-living crisis for American families.”