Stephanie Bice: “In December of 2024, the Department of Energy enacted new energy efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers…”

“In December of 2024, the Department of Energy enacted new energy efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers, equipment vital to pharmacies, convenience stores, food processing facilities, food banks, restaurants, and many other establishments nationwide. These regulations will impose significant financial burdens on small businesses, which will have to absorb major upgrade costs to meet these new aggressive standards. At a time when our focus should be on lowering the cost of living for our constituents, it is clear most of these expenses will be borne by consumers in the form of increased prices. {time} 0930 Mr. Speaker, furthermore, they threaten significant operational disruption for many enterprises that rely on this equipment. We have heard from many businesses in rural areas which will have to go through extensive structural and electrical upgrades to accommodate the new equipment. These same businesses have reported that getting the refrigerators and freezers repaired is a process which is already taking too long and is expensive and will become even more so. For businesses looking to enter underserved markets, this will be another barrier in doing so. For businesses operating on a narrow profit margin, this could be what sends them under. Recognizing these detrimental impacts, I fought against the adoption of this rule and expressed my disapproval last year during the public comment period.…”