The federal energy standards for gas and electric ranges, cooktops and ovens that were due to take effect for products made from January 31, 2028 no longer stand as adopted. On August 11, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a petition from seven states and set aside the Department of Energy's 2024 rule, sending the matter back to the department for further proceedings. For anyone shopping for a range, the practical effect is narrower than the attention the rule drew: the 2024 standards never applied to anything on a showroom floor today, and the older federal rules for cooking products are unchanged.

What the 2024 rule set

The Department of Energy published the rule on February 14, 2024 as a direct final rule, a procedure under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act for standards recommended jointly by manufacturers, efficiency advocates and other groups. It took effect June 13, 2024, with compliance required for products manufactured in or imported into the United States starting January 31, 2028.

For cooktops, the rule set a ceiling on integrated annual energy consumption, the estimated energy a model uses in a year of typical cooking under DOE's test procedure, counting active, standby and off modes. Electric smooth-element cooktops, whether standalone or part of a range, were limited to 207 kilowatt-hours a year. Gas cooktops, standalone or part of a range, were limited to 1,770 thousand Btu a year. The table in the rule lists no limit for electric open-coil cooktops, and portable indoor cooktops were excluded. For ovens, gas and electric, the rule barred control systems that use a linear power supply, an older type of power converter, in favor of switching power supplies that draw less power.

The rule did not prohibit gas cooking. DOE wrote in the rule that its standards do not limit how a household uses a cooktop, and it estimated that 97 percent of gas cooktop shipments at the time already met the gas level it adopted. It also reported that every entry-level gas cooktop in its expanded test sample met that level. DOE estimated the average lifetime of a cooking product at 14.5 years for gas and 16.8 years for electric.

What the court decided

The petitioners were Mississippi, Montana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Under the statute, DOE must withdraw a direct final rule if adverse comments give a reasonable basis to believe it does not meet the law's requirements, and then proceed through ordinary notice-and-comment rulemaking instead. Several states filed adverse comments on the last day of the 110-day comment period in June 2024, and DOE published a notice on August 12, 2024 concluding that none of them gave a reasonable basis to withdraw the rule.

The panel of Circuit Judges Haynes, Ho and Oldham held that the states' comments did provide that basis, so DOE violated the statute by keeping the rule in place. The court denied DOE's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, granted the petition, set aside the rule and remanded it to the department. Judge Andrew S. Oldham wrote the opinion. Judge Haynes concurred in part, agreeing with sending the rule back but only so DOE could reconsider its decisions in light of the record.

The rules that still apply

The federal standards that have governed cooking products for years predate the 2024 rule. Under the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, gas ranges and ovens with an electrical supply cord made on or after January 1, 1990 may not have a constant-burning pilot light. A 2009 DOE rule extended that prohibition to all gas cooking products, with or without a cord, made on or after April 9, 2012. Those requirements are in the federal regulations at 10 CFR 430.32(j). Microwave ovens are covered by a separate DOE rule, published June 20, 2023, on standby and off-mode power, which the 2024 cooking rule did not address.

What is still pending

Before the court ruled, the department had already moved to undo parts of the rule. On May 16, 2025, DOE published two proposed rules to rescind the amended design requirements for conventional cooking tops and for conventional ovens. DOE's product page lists both as proposals with their comment periods closed and no final action; the page was last updated July 16, 2025, and still lists the January 31, 2028 compliance date. No DOE notice responding to the decision appeared on that page or in a Federal Register search as of mid-November.

What this means at the store

Federal efficiency rules govern what manufacturers may make and import, not what a household may own or use, and none of the 2024 limits had reached the compliance date. Ranges and cooktops sold now are subject to the pilot-light rules above and to the product safety standards that apply to them. Energy use varies by model: DOE's test procedure for cooktops, in appendix I1 to 10 CFR part 430 subpart B, is the method behind the annual energy figures in the rule. The department's cooking products page and the Federal Register are where any new proposal, final action or response to the court will appear first.

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