Bill Word, David Daquin v.U.S. Department of Energy

On June 13, 2024, CEI attorneys (representing David Daquin and Bill Word) filed a lawsuit in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, against the Department of Energy (DOE) challenging its illegal regulation of household appliances. We explain DOE’s illegal conduct in greater detail just below.

In October 2020, the Department of Energy (DOE) partially deregulated dishwashers. DOE’s action was a response to a petition that CEI had filed two years earlierwhich demonstrated that its stringent efficiency standards had drastically impaired dishwasher performance. CEI’s petition also served as a blueprint for DOE’s deregulation of washers and driers.

Several environmental groups and California sued to block this deregulation, but CEI intervened to defend it. Those cases were put on hold when DOE sought to reconsider the deregulation.

The Biden Administration started undoing the previous administration’s reforms in this area on the President’s first day in office. DOE completed its revocation of those reforms in January 2022. In March of that year, twelve states challenged that revocation in the Fifth Circuit. CEI assisted their arguments with amicus briefs. On January 8, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the administration’s attempt to prohibit faster dishwashers.

That Fifth Circuit decision recognized that “No part of that text [of EPCA] indicates Congress gave DOE power to regulate water use for energy-using appliances (like dishwashers and washing machines).” Despite this opinion, on February 29, 2024, the DOE issued new water efficiency rules for residential clothes washers; on April 24, 2024, the DOE then issued new water efficiency rules for clothes washers. On June 13, 2024, representing Daquin and Word, CEI filed a lawsuit against the Department of Energy seeking an order to enforce the Fifth Circuit ruling and prohibit such water efficiency regulations by DOE.

This is an unusual situation: when a federal appellate court explains that some particular government action is forbidden, it is atypical for the government then to choose to perform that action repeatedly. We think there is some likelihood that the federal district court in Amarillo, Texas, will follow the lead of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.