Clinton Laundry List of Regs Includes Washing-Machine Restrictions

0 Comments | Insight on the News, March 26, 2001 | by James P. Lucier

In another of the little-noticed Clinton midnight regulations, the Department of Energy (DOE) -- the same agency that couldn't keep nuclear secrets -- issued a stealth edict that will force the popular top-loading washing machines off the market. Instead consumers will be forced to buy so-called "horizontal access," or front-loading machines, which cost $200 to $300 more. Needless to say, the appliance manufacturers rushed to embrace this ruling since there is room for more profit in the higher-price structure. And besides, they got tax credits for being good sports.

The DOE pushed the regs through and made them final in two months -- circumventing a process that normally can take as many as 10 years. The agency's rationale is that the front-loaders use less energy because they use less water. According to DOE's cost-benefit analysis, the energy savings will pay back the consumer if he/she does 392 loads of laundry per year for 14 years. Of course, if you do less than six loads a week, it's going to cost you. If you have a bad back, or you are elderly, or you worry about whether toddlers might creep inside, it's going to cost you more.