This story was originally published byProPublica.
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.
Donald Trump makes no secret of his loathing for regulations that limit water and energy use by home appliances.
© Daniel Torok
For years, he has regaled supporters at his campaign rallies with fanciful stories about their impact.
In his first term, Trump pursued an array of gimmicks to venture to undermine the rules.
His moves were opposed by industry and environmental groups alike.
If its possible for regulations to be popular, these ones are.
They have cut Americas water and energy consumption, reduced global-warming emissions and saved consumers money.
Far more consequential steps have been taken outside the Oval Office.
That item has now disappeared from the DOGE website, and its current status remains unclear.
DOE does not have the internal capacity to do that work.
Taking that away pulls the rug out from under the agencys ability to run that regulatory program.
Appliance manufacturers seem almost as concerned.
This is not a positive development, said Josh Greene, vice president for government affairs at A.O.
Smith, the largest manufacturer of water heaters in the U.S. Thats not good for American manufacturing and its not good for consumers.
The Department of Energy has made no public attempts to clarify the matter.
An agency spokesperson did not respond to ProPublicas requests for comment.
Emails to DOGE and the White House brought no reply.
And Guidehouse officials, reportedly eager to lay low, also offered no response to multiple requests for comment.
Manufacturers then have three to five years to make their products measure up.
The law also includes an anti-backsliding provision that bars relaxation of standards that have been finalized.
None of that has slowed Trumps attacks.
This would exempt any such short-cycle devices that were introduced from the existing limits on water and energy use.
Manufacturers never brought those models to market.
And by mid-2022, Bidens Energy Department had reversed Trumps regulatory moves.
He vowed to fix it all again when he returned to the White House.
Eliminate energy efficiency standards for appliances was on Project 2025s list of needed reforms.
I look forward to signing these orders.
In simple terms, Trump did not have the legal authority to change these rules.
That left only one household-product regulation that could be challenged.
The vast majority of U.S. homes have traditional water heaters with 40- to 50-gallon tanks.
By contrast, tankless gas products represent 10% of sales.
They are about the size of a carry-on suitcase and heat a stream of water on demand.
Theyre energy-efficient and roughly twice as expensive as standard heaters.
It is a tankless water heater powered by natural gas, which he described as selling like hotcakes.
So, what did the Biden administration do, he asked.
They passed a regulation that would make that product illegal, and that company would be dead.
But under Trump, declared Wright, waving his arms, we are fixing that problem.
That factory is staying open.
… America is back, baby!
Wright returned to the hot-water thing ina FoxBusiness interviewa month later.
We cant officially get rid of them, he commented.
So we just pushed back the enforcement date, hopefully, to never.
Wrights portrayal omitted significant details.
Rinnai sells a broad array of products across the world.
And Rinnai had plans to make them in Georgia, according to the companysmost recent annual report.
The company ultimately declined to respond to questions about its public representations.)
Its efforts appear to be on the point of success.
A resolution has passed the House and won Senate approval on Thursday.
Rinnai has spent $375,000 on Washington lobbyists since 2023, according to disclosure reports.
The company also joined with Republican attorneys general in a court challenge to the energy rule.
Three major Rinnai competitors supported the Biden-era regulations.
Smith has actively lobbied against Rinnais effort to win a congressional rollback.
There should be a level playing field.
Meanwhile the administrations campaign has expanded to multiple fronts.
Then there was the executive order on showerheads that same day.
Then, deLaski said, it would be next to impossible for DOE to enforce its efficiency standards.
Doris Burke,Mark OlaldeandPratheek Rebalacontributed research.
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