Abuse of the DOE Energy Efficiency Policy Archives (60+ articles)—Watts Up With That?

Author: Mark Krebs and Tom Tanton

“We sincerely hope that the incoming Trump administration, the Department of Energy, the newly created National Energy Board and/or its Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) will use these resources to consider what to reform and scrap.”

The incoming Trump administration is committed to curbing inflation and the deep (administrative) state, acknowledging that energy is main resource. The eponymous blog was founded in 2007 to demonstrate the importance of a free-market style of energy exceptionalism.

Politicized “energy efficiency” policies increase costs and limit consumer choice, thus requiring government enforcement and subsidies. The authors and subjects are cross-referenced here with the history of government failures in this area and their causes. These resources are free to anyone interested in the evolution of energy policy.

We sincerely hope that the incoming Trump Administration, the Department of Energy, the newly created National Energy Council, and/or its Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) will use these resources to consider what to reform and scrap.

Of particular interest to us is the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Simply put, EERE is outdated and inimical to a free market economy. To improve consumer choice and prosperity, structural reform of EERE is long overdue. It was a relatively easy budget cut.

The Krebs category uniquely provides details on how EERE routinely flouts its own laws and regulations and manipulates “data” to stifle the legitimate interests of everyday consumers. Furthermore, the original rationale for EERE dates back to the oil embargo of the 1970s, but has long since been resolved. Some 50 years later, it's time to declare victory and move on.

Since 2013, Mark Krebs (a frequent collaborator with Tom Tanton) has written 60 articles on MasterResource. We hope these articles (listed below) provide the incoming Trump administration with sufficient justification to eliminate EERE.

main topics

Here are the four most common themes:

• EERE's irrational push to electrify society through renewable energy generation is the spread of an unauthorized congressional mandate that will overload an already challenged grid and conservatively cost taxpayers $18-29 trillion. Others estimate that “electrifying everything” is impossible to achieve at any cost due to limitations in raw materials.
• EERE often reduces consumer choice and/or increases consumer costs through biased appliance efficiency standards.
• EERE's preference for renewable energy further increases electricity costs and reduces energy security by limiting energy diversity and shifting the market toward appliances.
• EERE and its current minions (e.g., the “National Laboratories”) frequently “bag the stands” and manipulate the apparatus of so-called “consensus” building energy codes to push the market toward electricity-centric “net-zero” buildings. The additional cost of such housing hinders the American dream of homeownership.

illustration

To understand EERE's selfish motives, pictures are worth a thousand words. Arguably the most pernicious of these is the spread of its self-serving empire-building/”deep state” mission. Here is the legend:

From heat pump subsidies: never enough:

‘Shift’ from energy efficiency to carbon efficiency boosts regulatory business

Source: “Electrification – What does it mean for energy efficiency?”

Excerpt from “Fighting Natural Gas: EEI/NRDC Joint Statement” to NARUC (Crony Environmentalism at Work):

Excerpted from Gas Stove Rules Part 2: The Return of the “Burn Gas” Policy

Comparison of 2011 and 2015 Life Cycle Cost (LCC) Spreadsheet Cost Savings Inflation Calculations
No‐Weather-resistant household gas stove

Archived posts

While there are several other excellent analyzes in MasterResource's energy efficiency category, authors Krebs and Tanton[1] Most prolific and skilled in the conventional game of documenting and interpreting the Department of Energy's “energy efficiency” policies. Here is the complete list of “Krebs Categories”:

1. U.S. Department of Energy Efficiency Standards: Consumer Time?
2. Heat pump subsidies: never enough
3. Artificial intelligence and data center load growth: on-site power generation, not government planning
4. The Weaponization of Missouri’s “Greenness”: Ameron and Taxpayers, Taxpayers
5. ‘Wartime’ climate policy and natural gas: Biden sinks into despair
6. Review of proposed minimum efficiency standards for “consumer boilers”
7. Update: DOE Equipment Minimum Efficiency Standards
8. Has the DOE “flipped” the bird to DC circuits?
9. Energy appliances win! (DC circuit and DOE)
10. The US Department of Energy and Gas Cooking: A Review of Critical Reviews
11. White House Nation: “Supervisory Reform” in Sheep’s Clothing (OMB Notice A-4)
12. Gas stoves: the much-loved blue flame is even better
13. The dangers of “deep decarbonization” (Krebs’ PowerPoint presentation to the Alliance for Cooler Heads)
14. “Rare earths”, electrification directives and energy security (Part 2)
15. “Rare earths”, electrification directives and energy security (Part 1)
16. Gas Hearth and Big Brother Revisited
17. Gas stove: Big Brother says no
18. Environmentalists petition EPA to ban natural gas in buildings
19. All-electric mandate in the Inflation Reduction Act (up to $14,000 per household)
20. Department of Energy plans to phase out non-condensing furnaces
21. 'No one needs a $287 million pipeline': Deconstructing the anti-natural gas argument
22. Energy Efficiency Under Biden Energy Department: Update
23. Mark Krebs on Energy Efficiency Under Biden’s Department of Energy (Part 4 Part 4: More Questions)
24. Mark Krebs on Energy Efficiency Under Biden’s Department of Energy (Part 4 Part 3: Biden’s Bias)
25. Mark Krebs on Energy Efficiency Under Biden’s Department of Energy (Part 4 Part 2: EERE Modeling)
26. Mark Krebs on Energy Efficiency Under Biden’s Department of Energy (Part 4, Part 1: “Deep Decarbonization” Takes Place)
27. Gas furnaces and DOE’s EERE (Trump beats Obama, but Biden is next)
28. Energy efficiency policies under Trump (Part 3: Litigation)
29. Energy Efficiency Policy Under Trump (Part 2: EERE’s Process Rules and Reforms)
30. Energy efficiency policies under Trump (Part 1: A mixed bag in the swamp)
31. Natural gas industry to DOE: Don’t ban non-condensing gas appliances
32. Stimulus Four: The last chance for a Green New Deal?
33. Industrial electrification issues (forced decarbonization of live wires)
34. EERE reform: Brouillette’s transformation (the threat of “deep decarbonization” remains)
35. DOE revisits mandatory electrification (decarbonization) rules for non-condensing furnaces, water heaters
36. The Green New Deal and the costs of “deep decarbonization”: some clarifications
37. Hearing Summary: “Energy Waste: Department of Energy's Inaction on Energy Efficiency Standards and Its Impact on Consumers and the Climate”
38. DEAR EERE: It’s past time to discuss “deep decarbonization” (the Obama plan is inconsistent with U.S. energy policy priorities)
39. Behind the scenes of the IPCC: The costs of climate change mitigation policies
40. Paris is alive! DOE’s “Deep Decarbonization”
41. Estimating the costs of deep decarbonization (California and beyond)
42. Update: “Is the Department of Energy Leading Us astray?” (Revisiting 1999 analysis)
43. Against Gas: EEI/NRDC Issue Joint Statement to NARUC (Crony Environmentalism at Work)
44. Secretary Perry Hearings (Part 2)
45. “Powering America” ​​Hearing (Part 1)
46. Direct use of natural gas: Unleashing the efficiency constraints of Obama’s “deep decarbonization” (Part 2)
47. Going straight to natural gas: Unleashing the efficiency constraints of Obama’s “deep decarbonization” (Part 1)
48. DOE's EERE: Secretary Perry's reform ideas
49. Federal Energy Efficiency Directives: Department of Energy’s Ultimate Goals and the Public Interest (Part 2)
50. Federal Energy Efficiency Directives: Department of Energy’s Ultimate Goals and the Public Interest (Part I)
51. Direct use of natural gas also requires a free market (“deep decarbonization” is an easy target to eliminate in the new policy era)
52. “Home Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards” Hearing: Some Thoughts (Part 2)
53. “Home Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards” Hearing: Some Thoughts (Part 1)
54. Mark Krebs: Deep dive into energy efficiency claims (Interview)
55. Regulatory Assistance Program (RAP): Fighting Natural Gas
56. “Grid-connected” hot water: “deep decarbonization” of crony environmentalism (Part 2)
57. “Grid-connected” hot water: “deep decarbonization” of crony environmentalism (Part 1)
58. Gas Stove Rules Part 2: Return of the “Charred Gas” Policy
59. Energy Hazards at Rural Utility Services (USDA): Climate Central, Efficiency Directives, Fuel Switching Rules
60. Gas Stove Rules: Beware of “Coking Coal” Policies

in conclusion

MasterResource has long documented the Department of Energy’s abuse of its energy efficiency authority (primarily through Krebs and Tanton’s articles) and hopes that when the time comes, there is enough will, ability, and insight to make a significant correction. Finally, under the Trump47 administration, it is time to purge the Deep State of selfish, empire building/mission creep behavior that has infiltrated EERE. If we can provide further assistance, please feel free to contact us via the methods below.

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[1] There is also a category of articles by Tom Tanton at https://www.masterresource.org/category/tanton-tom/ covering topics other than energy efficiency and EERE.

Mark Krebs (markedwardkrebs@gmail.com) is a mechanical engineer and energy policy consultant who has been involved in energy efficiency design and project evaluation for over thirty years. Mark has served as an expert witness in dozens of state energy efficiency lawsuits, served as counsel to the Department of Energy, and filed dozens of federal energy efficiency filings. You can find many of his MasterResource posts on natural gas vs. electricity and federal policy for “deep decarbonization” here. Mark's first article appeared in Utilities Biweekly, titled “It's a War: Gasmen Question Electric Efficiency” (December 1996). Krebs recently retired from Spire Inc. and joined other veteran energy analysts to form an energy policy consulting firm (Natural Gas Analysis and Advocacy Services).

Tom Tanton (tantontwitter@gmail.com) is director of the Institute of Energy and Environmental Law. Mr. Tanton has 45 years of experience in energy and environmental policy, focusing on promoting technology options and economic development. Mr. Tanton has testified before numerous state legislatures and Congress as an energy policy expert. He served as chief policy advisor to the California Energy Commission.

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