The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering withdrawing its previous decision to classify portable electric spas — commonly known as hot tubs — as “covered products” under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). The classification as a covered product would subject them to federal energy efficiency standards. The proposal to remove them is part of a broader initiative by the federal government to reduce regulatory burdens and promote consumer choice.

As part of President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Zero-Based Regulation to Unleash American Energy,” the DOE has proposed removing a total of 47 regulations that the White House says “drive up costs and lower the quality of life” for Americans.

The 47 actions include the proposed elimination or modification of dozens of consumer appliance standards and regulations that limit building and energy production. To get a sense of what is being proposed, some regulations slated for elimination and deregulation include:

• Rescinding energy conservation standards for automatic commercial ice makers, external power supplies, and microwave ovens.

• Rescinding the water use standards for faucets.

• Rescinding the amended design requirements for conventional cooking tops and conventional ovens.

• Rescinding the amended water conservation standards for commercial clothes washers and water use standards for residential clothes washers and residential dishwashers.

Portable electric spas are topic No. 45 on the list, with a proposal to eliminate them as a product that the DOE regulates.

The move has sparked a debate among stakeholders.

In 2022, the DOE determined that portable electric spas should be covered under EPCA, allowing the agency to set energy conservation standards for these products. This decision was based on the significant energy consumption of the spas and the potential for energy savings through efficiency standards. However, in April 2025, the DOE proposed withdrawing this determination, citing alternative avenues for conserving energy and the desire to reduce regulatory burdens.

The thrust of the argument for withdrawing the spas as covered products is to reduce regulatory burdens. Those in favor of not regulating them argue that classifying the spas as covered products imposes unnecessary compliance costs on manufacturers and limits consumer choice. They contend that such regulations may stifle innovation and increase product prices.

Also, some stakeholders believe that the DOE should concentrate its efforts on products with greater energy-saving potential, rather than regulating portable electric spas, which may have a relatively smaller impact on overall energy consumption.

But advocates for regulation point out that the spas can consume between 1,850 and 3,400 kWh per year, actually making them one of the largest energy-consuming

Photo credit: https://appliance-standards.org/product/portable-electric-spas appliances in households that own them. Implementing efficiency standards could lead to substantial energy savings, they claim.

They argue that energy-efficient spas can reduce electricity bills for consumers. The DOE estimated that minimum efficiency standards could save consumers up to $2,900 over the lifetime of a spa, with a payback period of about two years.

However, the current administration has suggested that there are other ways to promote energy conservation without imposing federal standards on portable electric spas. This could include voluntary industry standards or state-level initiatives.

Here the discussion becomes more nuanced, as those in favor of not federally regulating spas could be forced to contend with the potentially extreme “green” measures a few states could impose.

And that is the perspective the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance seems to be weighing.

As part of its proposal to eliminate portable electric spas as covered by federal energy efficiency standards, the DOE initiated a 30-day public comment period to solicit public sentiment and industry opinion.

The Pool and Hot Tub Alliance submitted its comments in favor of subjecting portable electric spas to federal efficiency standards.

And perhaps the most interesting is the following: The absence of a federal energy efficiency standard for portable electric spas creates a significant risk that California and other states will implement increasingly stringent and potentially unfeasible regulations that exceed cost-effective thresholds. This regulatory overreach would severely impact American manufacturers, particularly small businesses, while giving foreign competitors in China, Hungary, and other countries an unfair price advantage for noncompliant products sold into the American marketplace. Federal energy efficiency standards under EPCA provide federal preemption for states as long as no waivers are issued.

The word “preemption” should remind readers of a loophole that those opposed to state government overreach have recently exploited to prevent “overly burdensome” regulations that states like California have attempted to enact.

For several years now, gas appliances have been under fire in liberal-leaning cities and states that favor all-electric as a more environmentally sound approach. Such municipalities have made attempts to ban gas appliances such as stoves, ovens, water, and space heaters, and — when such attempts fail — the gas lines that fuel those appliances.

Time and again, these burdensome attempts to ban gas have failed in federal courts for one big reason: The Department of Energy’s federal authority on the regulation of covered appliances “preempts” or prevents the states from enacting laws regulating those same appliances.

In fact, the preemption clause was the sole legal basis by which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over the Western States) made its 2024 decision not to allow the city of Berkeley, California, to ban gas piping.

The court agreed that the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act expressly preempts state and local regulations concerning the energy use of many appliances and does not authorize states or local jurisdictions this power.

But that’s only if those appliances are “covered.”

If the DOE doesn’t “cover” energy efficiency standards for portable electric spas, it will leave the power to regulate the appliances up to the individual states.

Many manufacturers fear that removing federal authority will result in a patchwork of state regulations that will be difficult and costly to implement.