On November 9, 2020, 12 states and two cities[1] filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District. against the Department of Energy (DOE) over the DOE’s failure to review and update 25 standards for a wide range of appliances including washers and dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, water heaters, room air conditioners, small electric motors, furnaces, and fans.[2] According to the lawsuit, the updated standards could save $580 billion in energy costs and avoid over 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. In the November lawsuit, the states say the Trump administration has violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) which requires standards to be reviewed every six years. The EPCA covers more than 60 categories of appliances; these appliances account for about 90% of the total amount of energy consumed in homes, 60% of the energy used in commercial buildings, and 30% of the energy used by industry. A similar lawsuit was filed on October 30, 2020 by six environmental and consumer groups[3] which asked that the court direct the DOE to "promptly initiate rulemakings and complete reviews" of the missed standards.[4]

[1] New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia and the city of New York.

[2]https://oag.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2020%2011%2009%20Missed%20Deadline%20Complaint%20with%20Attachments%20FILED.pdf

[3] Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Consumer Federation of America, and the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants with Earthjustice as their counsel

[4] https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/complaint-doe-standards-delay-20201030.pdf