Biden Finalizes Water Heater Energy Efficiency Standards (1)

The Biden administration finalized new energy efficiency standards on Tuesday for residential water heaters, the latest in a slew of appliance standards that promise consumer savings and emissions cuts.

The new standards for those energy-guzzling consumer appliances, which haven’t been updated since 2010, will save consumers $124 billion over 30 years of shipments, the Energy Department said in a press release. They will reduce 332 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions—equivalent to the combined annual emissions of 43 million homes, the agency said.

The standards would result in over 50% of the newly manufactured electric storage water heaters to ...