Pro-consumer legislation from Tillis heads to Trump’s desk for signature

Bipartisan, bicameral legislation that U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced synchronizing the implementation of energy conservation requirements for residential ceiling fans to prevent higher consumer costs and market disruption has now been approved by both chambers of Congress and heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

The Ceiling Fan Energy Conservation Harmonization Act, S. 2030, passed the U.S. House of Representatives by voice vote on March 19. The U.S. Senate had passed the measure by unanimous consent on Dec. 21, 2017.

“I’m pleased that Congress came together to unanimously pass our legislation that makes one simple change to upcoming regulations that will help save millions of American consumers from a price increase on a product they need and depend on,” said Sen. Tillis, who introduced S. 2030 on Oct. 30, 2017, with U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) signing on as an original cosponsor.

S. 2030 is the Senate version of the identical House bill, H.R. 3477, introduced by U.S. Reps. Richard Hudson (R-NC) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) on July 27, 2017. The bill “makes January 21, 2020, the compliance date for the amended energy conservation standards for ceiling fan light kits, which is also the compliance date for ceiling fan standards. Currently, the compliance date for the ceiling fan light kits is January 7, 2019,” according to the congressional record summary for S. 2030.

S. 2030 basically ensures two separate energy efficiency requirements for ceiling fan light bulbs and motors are implemented in 2020 to promote efficiency, according to Tillis’ staff, who noted in a March 20 statement that the misaligned dates pose potential problems for the $1.8 billion consumer market “when multiplied over thousands of stores, supply chain lead times, redundant employee work hours, and the transition of inventory.”

In addition to consumer cost-savings, Sen. Heinrich pointed out the green benefits of the legislation. “Energy efficiency standards for ceiling fans and other appliances are a proven way to help consumers save money on their utility bills, while also lowering emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants,” Heinrich said. “By modifying compliance with the standards, we can avoid passing along unnecessary costs associated with implementation to American families.”

Rep. Hudson thanked Sen. Tillis for his leadership on this issue and said, “Although this issue probably won’t get too many headlines, it is one more example of how I am working to bring common sense to Washington and get government out of the way.”