Overview
- A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Tuesday that the DOE’s August 2024 Direct Final Rule setting efficiency limits for consumer stoves and ovens was invalid because the agency bypassed required public-comment procedures.
- The challenge was brought by seven Republican-led states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — whose attorneys general argued the DFR was inappropriate after a contentious 2023 push for similar standards.
- The vacated rule aimed to limit energy use by gas and electric stoves and ovens and to ban older linear power supplies, a technical change proponents say saves energy and critics say could raise costs or reduce reliability.
- Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham wrote that the DFR process is meant for uncontested rules and that DOE knew the prior controversy made fast-tracking the stove rule “untenable,” a view joined by Judges Catharina Haynes and James Ho.
- The decision removes the immediate force of the standards and leaves several paths open: the DOE can defend the rule, start a full notice-and-comment rulemaking to reissue standards, or abandon the effort entirely, a choice now shaped by the current administration’s stated preference for limiting efficiency mandates.