Alabama Delegation Protesting Manufactured Home Energy Mandates
U.S. Rep. Barry Moore is leading a bipartisan Alabama Congressional delegation pushing back on “burdensome energy updates” on manufactured homes.
All seven of Alabama’s congressional representatives, Republican and Democrat, signed a joint letter to the Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Energy (DOE), requesting those departments rectify what the delegation refers to “as conflicting government energy standard that could impose financial burdens on residents of manufactured homes.”
The letter asks the department to delay new DOE standards from its May 2023 effective date until requirements are aligned with FUD Code and to ensure both HUD and the DOE energy standards for manufactured housing – or mobile homes – building process. According to the letter sent to HUD and Doe, 15 percent of occupied housing units in Alabama are manufactured homes, making up about 296,000 total homes.
“When bureaucrat decision makers in Washington impose harmful regulations without understanding their real-world consequences, it is up to the American people’s representatives to defend their interests, ” Moore said in a statement. “I appreciate my colleagues in our Alabama delegation standing together on behalf of thousands of Alabamians who would face financial and regulatory burdens from contradictory government energy mandates, and I will continue taking what actions I can to ensure this matter is resolved favorably for Alabamains.”
In May 2022, the DOE released new manufactured home energy standards that are estimated to add thousands of dollars to the average price of new manufactured homes. As stated in the Alabama delegation’s letter, these standards are scheduled to go into effect this May. These standards were put in place for manufactured home construction. The DOE said the rules would require new manufactured homes to meet standards based on the size of the home and the climate in which it will be located.
Some of these rule changes include new insulation requirements, which is expected to drive the cost of homes up but the DOE estimates will also save residents up to $450 annually in utility bills.
“The significant cost increases to actual manufactured home buyers far exceed the speculative energy savings the rule claims will take place,” Manufactured Housing Institute CEO Leslie Gooch said last year.
The Alabama delegation’s letter to HUD and DOE can be read in its entirety at https:/tinyurl.com/mn2yxc7.
