The federal government has agreed to drop its new rule that would have required high-efficiency furnaces in Northern states, a victory for critics who warned that the costly standard could backfire and drive urban homeowners to less efficient heating methods.
The U.S. Department of Energy and the American Public Gas Association (APGA) on Monday asked the U.S. Appeals Court in the District of Columbia to vacate the rule and to restart the process of devising new furnace efficiency standards.
The settlement between the Energy Department and the APGA scuttles a rule that would have required any new furnaces or boilers installed after May 2013 in 30 Northern states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to have an efficiency rating of 90 percent or more.
APGA and its largest member, Philadelphia Gas Works, had argued that low-income customers and rowhouse owners might switch to electrical or kerosene heaters instead of paying the greater cost of installing the high-efficiency units in urban dwellings, which require expensive modifications to chimneys.