House Passes Bill Limiting Federal Regulation of Gas Stoves

A debate over gas stoves began in early January after a commissioner with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in an interview with Bloomberg that any option, including a ban, was on the table as the agency considered the safety of the appliances. Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. later clarified his statement, saying the CPSC “isn’t coming for anyone’s gas stoves.”

It was reignited in February when the Energy Department proposed new energy-conservation standards for consumer-cooking appliances. The proposed standards, which would go into effect in 2027, would apply to new products. Some industry groups voiced concern that the proposals would effectively bar some less-efficient models from the market.

The CPSC and the Energy Department have said there are no plans to ban gas stoves. “This bill is unnecessary—the CPSC is not banning gas stoves,” CPSC Chairman Alex Hoehn-Saric said in a statement last week. 

The “Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act,” which passed the House in a 248-180 vote on Tuesday, would prohibit the commission from banning gas stoves or enacting regulations that would make them substantially more expensive. Another bill, the “Save Our Gas Stoves Act,” would stop the Energy Department from implementing new energy-efficiency standards for gas stoves. That bill hasn’t been voted on yet. 

The GOP push encountered a rare and unexpected stall when a small group of House Republicans joined Democrats to block a procedural vote last week. The group, which included Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) Chip Roy (R., Texas) and Lauren Boebert (R., Colo.), blocked the procedural vote in protest of the bipartisan deal struck by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avert a debt default.

The White House has said it opposes both bills. The CPSC bill would “undermine the Commission’s ability to make science-based decisions to protect the public,” according to the Biden administration. The Energy Department bill, meanwhile, would prevent Americans from saving money through more efficient appliances, it said. 

More than a third of U.S. households cook with gas, according to the Energy Information Administration, and gas stoves remain popular with professional and home chefs. But critics have pointed to the greenhouse gases that the appliances emit—including carbon dioxide and methane—which have been linked to climate change. Others have raised health concerns.

In May, New York became the first state in the U.S. to ban gas stoves in new homes and apartments.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, an Arizona Republican who introduced the “Save Our Gas Stoves Act,” said natural gas is safe, reliable and affordable. “Our government should NOT tell Americans what cooking appliances they can or cannot use,” she said in a post on Twitter last week.

Write to Talal Ansari at [email protected]