House Panel Passes NAHB-Supported Transformer Bill

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security has approved NAHB-supported legislation that will help ease the shortage of distribution transformers.

H.R. 4167, the Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act, would ensure certainty for transformer manufacturers as they seek to repair and strengthen a broken distribution transformer supply chain that has delayed home construction projects across the country and aggravated the nation’s housing affordability crisis.

Specifically, the legislation would repeal the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) authority to propose, finalize, implement, administer, or enforce any energy efficiency standard for distribution transformers for the next five years.

The DOE has proposed to increase the energy conservation standards for the production of transformers, an action that NAHB strongly opposes because it will exacerbate an already acute supply-chain shortage.

This was one of the key issues during this year’s NAHB Legislative Conference in June when more than 700 NAHB members discussed vital matters of concern to the housing industry with their lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

A companion bill is pending in the Senate.

NAHB continues to work with both chambers of Congress to seek additional funding aimed solely at boosting production of distribution transformers to meet market demand.