DOE Heeds NAHB Concerns When Crafting Final Transformer Rule
The Department of Energy (DOE) on April 4 issued a final energy efficiency rule for distribution transformers that explicitly heeded NAHB’s call to ensure that it would not impede the production of badly needed transformers.
“NAHB commends the Department of Energy for listening to the concerns of home builders who cited soaring costs and shortages of distribution transformers that are delaying housing projects across the nation and increasing construction costs,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris. “The final rule issued today represents an improvement over what was initially proposed and should deliver practical efficiency gains without further exacerbating ongoing supply challenges in the distribution transformer marketplace. We urge the administration and Congress to now shift its focus toward addressing ongoing distribution transformer supply shortages that are hampering the ability of builders to bring much needed housing to the market.”
NAHB was sharply critical of DOE’s original rule proposal because it effectively required all distribution transformers to shift from the industry standard grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) cores to amorphous steel cores and marginally increased energy efficiency standards for transformers. GOES currently accounts for more than 95% of the domestic distribution transformer market, and manufacturers’ production lines are tooled for designs that use GOES. If this plan had been enacted, it would have further curtailed the production of transformers at a time when they are needed now, more than ever.