Pallone Leads Opposition to Republican Legislation That Raises Power Bills and Worsens Affordability Crisis

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following remarks on the House floor in opposition to H.R. 5184, legislation that guts energy efficiency standards for manufactured homes:

The affordability crisis has spread to nearly every facet of Americans' lives. Utility bills are skyrocketing across the country. Trump’s disastrous tariffs are being passed onto the American consumer. Grocery prices are up, making it hard for families to put food on the table. And Republicans delivered their latest blow with failing to extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, which will result in soaring monthly health care premiums for more than 20 million Americans. In many cases, Americans are seeing monthly premiums either two, three, or four times higher than they were last year.   

To make matters worse, we are in the midst of a housing crisis that is crushing American families’ dreams. We are witnessing historically high home prices coupled with a devastating shortage of housing. The cost of buying a home feels out of reach for too many, while rent is simultaneously ballooning at an unsustainable rate. Manufactured homes, however, are an important component of our affordable housing stock. 

We should all be concerned about the cost of buying a new home. But this bill does not solve this crisis, in fact, it only makes housing affordability worse. 

First, it revokes the Department of Energy’s May 2022 energy conservation standard for manufactured housing, robbing residents of $5 billion in savings. Manufactured homes are often far less efficient than other homes, costing owners about 70 percent more per square foot in utility bills. Many low-income residents have reported forgoing basic necessities like food or medicine in order the keep their lights on. 

So to suggest that DOE’s standards for manufactured homes negatively impact affordability is entirely false. When talking about affordability, it is imperative that we also consider the cost of actually living in these homes, and energy use is a big part of that. This is even more important at a time when electricity costs are up 13 percent nationwide. If my Republican colleagues really want to get at the root cause of the current housing affordability crisis, they should look at Trump’s disastrous tariffs on essential building materials and appliances, not energy efficiency standards that actually lower monthly energy bills.  

This bill also strips DOE of its Congressionally-directed authority to set efficiency standards for manufactured homes, and sends the responsibility to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an agency with a history of failing to protect manufactured housing residents from high energy costs.  

Prior to the passage of the bipartisan Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which President George W. Bush signed into law, HUD was responsible for setting energy efficiency standards for manufactured homes. However, the agency failed to act, leaving residents without an updated energy code since 1994. It’s no wonder that 44 percent of manufactured housing residents face a high energy burden.  

DOE’s May 2022 standard was long overdue – manufactured housing residents had gone without a modern standard for nearly 30 years before the DOE final rule.  

This bill repeals DOE’s manufactured housing rule – denying residents of about $475 in savings every year on their utility bills. This is unacceptable. We should be fighting to raise the standard of living of manufactured housing residents, not lowering it with higher costs.  

I strongly oppose this bill. The affordability crisis is quite literally hitting home for millions of Americans – and H.R. 5184 would only saddle residents with even higher utility bills at a time when they can least afford it. 

I urge my colleagues to vote no on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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