President Joe Biden's administration on Monday backed off from a proposed standard that would have effectively banned the sale of half of all gas stoves on the market.
The Department of Energy issued new standards that 97 percent of gas stoves and 77 percent of electric stoves on the market already meet, it said in a press release. The standards will take effect in 2028.
Critics slammed the administration after the department released an estimate in February 2023 that roughly half of gas stoves on the market would not meet the standards it proposed. That figure came after a Biden appointee to the Consumer Product Safety Commission floated the possibility of a ban on new gas stoves based on health concerns.
The department's Monday regulations reflect the recommendations that multiple trade groups released in September, and Americans will save $1.6 billion over 30 years as a result of the energy efficiency standards, it said in the release.
That announcement comes after Democratic municipalities have sought to ban gas stoves in future homes. Chicago officials are weighing a proposal that would effectively forbid all new buildings from using natural gas as an energy source, and New York State banned gas stoves last spring. The Biden administration in June asked a federal court to overturn its previous decision that blocked Berkeley, Calif.'s 2019 plan to ban gas stoves.
The same court declined to give the case a new hearing earlier this month.