House Members Urge DOE to Withdraw Conservation Standards Rule for Distribution Transformers

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 10, 2023

More than 60 House members on April 3 urged Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to withdraw the Department of Energy’s proposed rule to increase conservation standards for distribution transformers.

In December, DOE announced it was proposing new energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers.

Since 2021, electric utilities have been communicating their troubles with procurement of distribution transformers to DOE, the letter noted.

“The lead time for procurement of a distribution transformer can take 16 months or longer. This lead time is a significant problem for electric utilities seeking to bolster the reliability and resilience of the grid and other critical infrastructure, particularly against severe storms and other hazardous weather events,” the House members said in the letter.

“Furthermore, prolonged lead times and the lack of availability have made it difficult for utilities to provide transformers to homebuilders, city planners, and economic developers to get power to end users in new development areas,” the lawmakers said.

“There is no statutory requirement for DOE to issue an increase in efficiency standard. Despite this fact, DOE continues to push forward with a rulemaking that will only increase the energy efficiency of distribution transformers by a fraction of a percentage point,” they went on to say.

“The electric power industry is in no position to undertake this level of regulatory overhaul. Outputs fell far below the needs of the market before the proposed rule was noticed.”

A new efficiency regulation “that completely overhauls the manufacturing process will further exacerbate the significant delays in delivering distribution transformers. Until the industry receives the regulatory certainty it needs, the production backlog will only worsen,” the lawmakers said in urging Granholm to immediately withdraw the proposed rule.

Proposed Efficiency Standards for Distribution Transformers Would Worsen Shortages: APPA

The efficiency standards for distribution transformers proposed by DOE would worsen current distribution transformer supply shortages and, to the extent that they are even feasible, would impose significant costs on consumers, the American Public Power Association said.

The electric industry is currently experiencing a critical shortage of distribution transformers, “and the efficiency standards included in the NOPR would likely exacerbate a supply shortfall that has already reached crisis levels, threatening electric reliability, economic development, and the ongoing transition to lower-emitting generating resources,” APPA argued in its  March 27 comments to DOE regarding the NOPR.