Committee Republicans Pen Letter to Biden's Energy Department for their Attack on Ceiling Fan Manufacturers
Letter
Dear Secretary Granholm:
The House Committee on Small Business writes to inquire about the recent proposed rule
change to the energy conservation standards for ceiling fans. This proposed rule would decrease
the maximum estimated energy consumption permissible for large diameter and belt driven
ceiling fans.1 This rule would require numerous small business fan manufacturers to redesign
their products and may put between 10 and 30 percent of small business ceiling fan
manufacturers out of business.2 It appears that the Department of Energy (DOE) may not have
properly considered small entities during this rulemaking process.
It is important for agencies to examine small businesses interests--which make up 99.9
percent of all businesses in the United States--when passing any new rule. America's small
businesses deserve to have their voices heard and considered. We therefore request the following
information as soon as possible but no later than August 30, 2023:
1. Did the DOE consider allowing small business fan manufacturers to attest that they are
using a DOE compliant electric motor,3 or other forms of alternative compliance, as a means of complying with this proposed rule?
2. In the impact calculation, did the DOE expect small businesses to abandon some of their
product lines to comply with this rule, or that these businesses would redesign their
products?
3. Does the DOE expect this rule to decrease the availability of large diameter, or belt
driven ceiling fans?
1 Energy Conservation Standards for Ceiling Fans, 88 Fed. Reg. 40932, 40933-34 (To be codified at 10 C.F.R. § 430).
2 Id. at 41007-08. (Table VI.1 shows that at least three of the ten large diameter ceiling fan manufactures will experience conversion costs greater than 20 percent of triennial revenues).
3 Energy Conservation Standards for Electric Motors, 10 C.F.R. § 431.25; See also Energy Conservation Standards for Electric Motors, 88 Fed. Reg. 35765 (To be codified at 10 C.F.R. § 431).
Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm
August 24, 2023
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4. What additional costs would a small business, such as a restaurant, incur when
purchasing a new ceiling fan that complies with these updated standards?
5. Does the DOE believe "Small Business 1" in Table VI.1 will go out of business as a
result of this rule?4
a. Does the DOE believe "Small Business 2" in Table VI.1 will go out of business as
a result of this rule?
b. Does the DOE believe "Small Business 3" in Table VI.1 will go out of business as
a result of this rule?
To schedule the delivery of your response or ask any related follow-up questions, please
contact Committee on Small Business Majority Staff at (202) 225-5821. The Committee on
Small Business has broad authority to investigate "problems of all types of small business" under
House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.
In God We Trust
4 Conservation Standards for Ceiling Fans, 88 Fed. Reg. 40932, 41007-08 (To be codified at 10 C.F.R. § 430).
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