by Charlie McCrudden, ACCA Director of Government Relations

Since the immigration reform bill died in the Senate last week, the Senate calendar has been cleared to tackle legislation to rewrite the nation's energy policies. There are a lot of things being considered in their proposed legislation, but most important to our industry are changes in energy efficiency minimums for heating and cooling products.

The Senate plans to move forward this week with a bill that would replace the current regime of a single federal minimum efficiency rating for heating (78% AFUE) and cooling (13 SEER) with a proposal that would create regional standards based on climate and humidity.

The House has produced discussion draft legislation that would do the same thing: create a patchwork of minimum efficiency ratings all in the name of promoting energy efficiency.

But there are serious concerns by the HVAC industry that this plan is too cumbersome to small businesses, is impossible to enforce, and would ultimately backfire by keeping inefficient equipment in service.

These provisions are a small part of massive comprehensive energy bills that contain controversial ideas. A House subcommittee vote on these bills was scheduled for Wednesday, June 13, but was postponed due to fights among Democrats. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell represents Detroit, Michigan, and he will not include a provision to increase average fuel economy for automobiles or trucks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California insists on including an increase and the rights to states to set their own standards for cars, trucks, and other goods. She has already come out against Dingell's bill, a significant slight to a member of her own party and the longest serving Democrat in Congress today. So the committee vote is put off until these issues can be worked out.

If this Democratic squabble is not resolved, Democrats could go for the low hanging fruit and push through the HVAC regional standards provisions in and of themselves, just to claim some sort of victory. Despite our lobbying efforts, very few on Capitol Hill understand the ramifications this proposal would have on the HVAC industry - most of the discussion has been about controversial alternative fuels.

That is why ACCA members need to use the Government Affairs Grassroots Action Center to tell your Representative and Senators that this is a bad idea.