Utility bills could rise as Trump's EPA to end Energy Star program, experts warn

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Wed 7 May 2025 11.19 EDT
Last modified on Wed 7 May 2025 12.44 EDT


US customers could face higher energy bills, experts have warned, amid reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to end the Energy Star program whose blue labels have certified energy efficiency on home appliances for more than 30 years.

“If you wanted to raise families’ energy bills, getting rid of the Energy Star label would be a pretty good way,” said Steven Nadel, executive director of the non-profit research organization the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). “This would take away basic information from consumers who want to choose cost-saving products easily. There’s a reason this program has been so popular with consumers and manufacturers alike.”

In March, hundreds of companies and groups signed a letter urging the EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, to maintain full funding and staffing levels in the program. The reports of its elimination come after Donald Trump has railed against showers and toilets that conserve water. In April, he signed an executive order to “restore shower freedom”.

The plans to close the popular Energy Star program, first reported by CNN and the Washington Post, would come as part of wider agency cuts and the dissolution of the EPA’s office of atmospheric protection (OAP) and the office of air quality planning and standards.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/07/energy-star-program-ends-utility-bills

[FloridaBlues]

1. This administration has no reason for doing this cancellation. Ignorant.

[patphil]

2. Lee Zeldin lost a bid for New York governor, but found his true calling in screwing consumers over at the national level

Apparently we aren't consuming natural resources fast enough to suit the Trump regime.
Not enough incentive to "drill baby drill" or "dig baby dig".
Trump also hates electric cars for the same reason, and also mileage requirements for gas and diesel vehicles.
It's all about draining the middle and lower classes dry of every last dollar.

[Karasu]

3. Between inflation, tariffs, and all this stupidity raising costs from groceries to utilities...when the fuck are people

going to snap? Or are Americans so thoroughly conditioned by the system that they'll keep taking this shit until the country collapses or they die, whichever comes first? We certainly know which of the two this administration is banking on, because they've made it abundantly clear the only thing they care about is pinching pennies with people's lives and livelihoods.

Who can afford to indefinitely pay all these rising prices for all eternity?

[ruet]

4. What Even Are We Anymore? -NT-

[progree]

5. Does that mean getting rid of the bright yellow label that prominently displays expected KWH annual usage?

I hate to say it, but I don't really give a fud about whether an appliance is Energy Star rated or not. I just look at the projected annual KWH usage when comparing appliances. Hopefully that info will still be easily findable in the future.