Senate Republicans continued their campaign Thursday to roll back stringent energy regulations that were issued during the final months of President Joe Biden’s term.
The Senate voted 52-42 to repeal a Biden Department of Energy regulation banning some natural gas water heaters by 2029. The resolution now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature.
No Republican Senators voted against the repeal. House Republicans, led by Republican Alabama Rep. Gary Palmer, voted to repeal the gas water heater ban in February.
The ban is the fourth Biden energy rule that Congressional Republicans have sent to Trump to repeal as part of their broader effort to dismantle the previous administration’s regulatory agenda.
“The American people called for a new direction this past November, and the Trump administration and the Republican majorities in Congress have wasted no time getting to work to provide relief from burdensome regulations, especially when it comes to energy,” Thune said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Whether it’s through higher utility bills or higher costs at the grocery store or for other goods, it’s the American people who ultimately bear the cost of these rules … It’s why we’re working hard to eliminate these and many other regulatory burdens.”
If Senate Republicans had not successfully voted to rescind the regulation, Americans would have been forced to pay an additional $450 for alternative water heaters, according to the lead Senate sponsor, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
“Democrats are waging a war on household appliances under the guise of combating climate change,” Cruz upon introducing the joint resolution of disapproval in January. “This rule, rushed through by the Biden administration in its final days, does more harm than good. It forces American families to choose between costly, high-end models or less efficient alternatives — limiting their options and undermining their freedom of choice.”
Rinnai America, a subsidiary of a Japanese appliance company, argued the Biden energy regulation “threatened to eliminate hundreds of jobs” at its $70 million plant in Georgia that manufactures tankless water heaters. Democratic Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were the only Senate Democrats to join Republicans in voting to repeal the rule.
The American Gas Association (AGA) also praised Senate Republicans’ vote to repeal the gas water heater ban Thursday.
“This is a victory for working-class Americans and for the environment which benefits from the lower emissions of efficient, direct-use natural gas,” AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert said in a statement.
Since Trump took office, Congress has successfully rescinded Biden-era regulations that impose strict efficiency standards on walk-in freezers, create additional obstacles on offshore oil and natural gas development and tax the methane emissions of natural gas operators.
Congressional Republicans are also mulling a repeal of California’s de facto electric vehicle (EV) mandate.
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