H.R. 1281

Congressional Research Service summary, version: Introduced in House (Feb 13, 2025)

Natural Gas Appliances Standards Act of 2025 or the Natural GAS Act of 2025

This bill limits what the Department of Energy (DOE) may include in future energy conservation rules related to water heaters, furnaces, boilers, and kitchen cooktops, ranges, and ovens. Energy conservation rules establish standards that set minimum energy efficiency levels or maximum energy usage for certain consumer products, such as appliances.

Specifically, the bill requires DOE to certify that the rules are not likely to result in a significant shift from gas appliances to electric appliances.

As part of the rulemaking process, DOE must require a full fuel cycle analysis for energy efficiency standards. In addition to measuring energy use at the site where the appliance is operated, a full fuel cycle analysis estimates the energy consumed in the extraction, processing, and transport of primary fuels; energy losses in thermal combustion in power-generation plants; and energy losses in transmission and distribution to homes and commercial buildings.

Further, such rules must require energy efficiency labels to disclose the full-fuel-cycle efficiency. Currently, the labels only disclose point-of-use energy consumption, which is based on the amount of energy used at the site where the appliance is operated.

In addition, the bill exempts certain small major household appliance manufacturers from future energy conservation rules for such appliances.