Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Distribution Transformers

What it does

A Presidential determination issued on April 20, 2026, found that grid infrastructure supply chains, including distribution transformers and electrical core steel, are essential to national defense, and that U.S. industry faces critical constraints from limited domestic product capacity, extended procurement timelines, and foreign supply dependence. The U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") is initiating an information and data gathering effort to understand how the energy conservation standards for distribution transformers adopted in an April 2024 final rule, with compliance required in 2029, interact with these national security considerations, including impacts on domestic manufacturing capacity, supply chain resilience, and the availability and cost of key materials. DOE is also seeking information on whether the revised energy conservation standards result in special hardship, inequity, or unfair distribution of burdens, including investment needs and market conditions associated with redesigning equipment to comply by the 2029 compliance date.

The Energy Department's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What it would change

1 part of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

10 CFR 431

What happens next and when

Written comments, data, and information are requested and will be accepted on or before July 15, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket EERE-2026-BT-STD-0133 on Regulations.gov
• Title 10 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register