Eight energy policies that reduce competition and increase energy prices

The US Department of Justice’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force was accepting comments from the public in part “seeking information about laws and regulations that make it more difficult for businesses to compete effectively, especially in markets that have the greatest impact on American households.” The comment period closed on May 27.

One of the identified markets was the energy market. When looking at energy-related laws and regulations, the harmful effects are not limited to the energy sector. Policies that increase energy prices, such as laws that reduce competition, have effects across the entire economy, including the other markets specifically identified by the Task Force: housing, transportation, food and agriculture, and healthcare.

My colleagues Paige Lambermont and Ben Lieberman co-authored a comment with me that we sent to the Task Force. Below are eight policies that we listed that reduce competition and increase energy prices. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but it is a good starting point.

• EPA’s De Facto EV Mandate. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that would help to kill off gas-powered cars. According to the EPA, by 2032, 56 percent of new light-duty vehicles sold will be battery electric vehicles (EVs) and 13 percent will be plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Less than 30 percent will be internal combustion engine vehicles. This is a direct attack on competition within the automobile industry. It would intentionally shift Americans into vehicles that are more expensive and less reliable than gas-powered vehicles.
  
  
• The EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0. The EPA finalized a rule that would once again have the agency act as the nation’s grid manager. The agency’s goal is to shift electricity generation from reliable sources of electricity (e.g. coal and natural gas) to unreliable sources of electricity (wind and solar). This rule literally seeks to kill off power generation by coal and natural gas.
  
  
• The IRA’s “Green” Subsidies. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) uses a wide range of subsidies, from loans, grants, to tax credits, to change how the nation produces and use energy. Like the Clean Power Plan 2.0, the subsidies are intended to shift the country away from reliable sources of electricity, reducing competition and driving up prices. There are IRA subsidies, which like the EPA’s de facto EV mandate would attempt to kill off gas-powered cars and get people driving EVs or out of cars altogether. The IRA is filled with harmful policies as well connected to appliances and housing.
  
  
• HUD and USDA Housing Codes. Under the Biden administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) adopted stringent international building code provisions for all new homes qualifying for federally backed mortgages. According to the National Association of Home Builders, these provisions could add up to $31,000 to the cost of a compliant new home.
  
  
• Residential Air Conditioning Rule. A 2023 Biden EPA regulation requires that all new residential air conditioning systems manufactured on or after January 1, 2025 must use certain agency-approved refrigerants deemed sufficiently climate friendly. Doing so has created a captive market for more expensive air conditioning systems. In addition, several of the compliant refrigerants used in these systems are proprietary and can only be made by the two companies holding the patents for them, and they cost many times more than the previously-used refrigerants that are now illegal in new equipment. See e.g., https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ModernizingtheEPA_v2-chap2.pdf (pp.126-128).
  
  
• The Jones Act. This more than 100-year-old shipping law forbids the movement of goods between two US ports on noncompliant vessels, making it expensive and difficult for some parts of the United States to maintain reliable supplies of natural gas. The Jones Act’s requirements that vessels be US-owned,-built,-crewed, and -registered means that no LNG tankers comply with the law. Therefore, it is impossible to move significant volumes of LNG between US ports. This is particularly unfortunate for states and territories with unique geographies and makes it hard for Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and New England among others to depend on this otherwise reliable fuel for power and other uses.
  
  
• Renewable Fuel Standard. Passed by Congress in 2005 and amended in 2007, the Renewable Fuel Standard requires a certain amount of renewable fuels be blended into the transportation fuel mix each year. This comes largely in the form of ethanol and other biofuels. The requirement is in essence a subsidy to the producers of these fuels at the expense of everyone who purchases gasoline or diesel fuel.
  
  
• Renewable Portfolio Standards. These state level policies (RPSs) require that a certain portion of a state’s power come from renewable sources by a given year. They raise prices and endanger reliability. Because of the interconnected nature of the US power grid, these policies also end up having consequences for states that have not adopted RPSs because they must make up the shortfalls of states with whom they share a grid.