A bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives today to cancel energy efficiency standards for new manufactured homes would raise utility bills and total costs for residents. For families in new double-wide manufactured homes, the bill would allow annual energy costs to be, on average, $475 higher than they would be under the standards, according to Department of Energy (DOE) figures.
“Energy bills are rising, and this bill would make the situation worse, especially for many lower-income Americans,” said Jennifer Layke, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). “This gives the green light for manufacturers to pinch pennies on insulation and leave residents to pay the price month after month. It’s a shortsighted giveaway, and it would hurt the affordability of this important type of housing.”
Manufactured homes, also known as mobile homes, are exempt from state and local building energy codes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) set weak energy standards for the homes and has not updated them since 1994. Congress passed a bipartisan law in 2007 that directed the DOE to establish new protective standards. DOE issued standards in 2022 that will require more insulation and reduce air leaks, but they have been postponed from taking effect.
H.R. 5184, dubbed the “Affordable HOMES Act,” would revoke the 2022 standards and end DOE’s authority to set new ones. This would leave only HUD’s minimal standards, set more than 30 years ago.
More information about H.R. 5184 is available in an ACEEE fact sheet.
