A national coalition
of distributors and contractors associated with heating, ventilation,
air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR), including Heating, Airconditioning
& Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), the Air Conditioning
Contractors of America (ACCA), and the Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors
(PHCC), praised Senators who blocked advancement of an energy bill that had
been passed by the House in early December. The bill allowed for an
unprecedented “regionalization” of efficiency standards on residential heating
and cooling equipment that the coalition said will lead to higher equipment
costs for
consumers and little or no energy
savings.
“Regionalizing heating and cooling efficiency
standards would eliminate the largest markets for the most affordable
equipment, causing immediate cost increases for those states whose standards
might not even change at all,” according to Talbot Gee, vice president of
HARDI. “Homeowners … will have no choice but to repair and maintain older,
less-efficient systems rather than replacing them with high-efficiency systems
that they could no longer afford.”
Gee noted that the regionalization strategy does not introduce any equipment
that is not already available.