Twelve AGs Filed Motion to Intervene to Defend Efficiency Standards for Commercial Boilers

APRIL 8, 2020

New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 12 attorneys general in filing a motion to intervene to defend against an industry-led challenge to a Department of Energy (DOE) rule that strengthened energy efficiency standards for commercial packaged boilers, which are used to heat large buildings. DOE has projected that the new standards will yield nearly $2 billion in energy cost savings for consumers and businesses and approximately 16 million metric tons of carbon emissions reductions over the next 30 years. The AGs explained that they were compelled to intervene in the litigation in part because “recent actions taken by [DOE] call into question its commitment to robustly defend the rule.” The attorneys general pointed to the department’s unlawful years-long refusal to publish this and several other efficiency standards, which ended only after a coalition of states and advocacy groups secured an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in late 2019.