EXC-23-0002 - In the Matter of: First Co.

On November 1, 2023, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision denying an application by First Co. for exception relief from the applicable provisions of the Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedure for Single Package Vertical Air Conditioners and Single Package Vertical Heat Pumps (Final Rule) published on December 7, 2022, at 87 Fed. Reg. 75,144 and the energy conservation standards and test procedures applicable to central air conditioners (CACs) codified at 10 C.F.R. Part 430 (the CAC Standards). First Co. asserted that the Final Rule reclassified products it had previously certified to DOE as single package vertical units as CACs, and that redesigning its products to meet the CAC Standards by the effective date specified in the Final Rule would cause it to experience a special hardship, gross inequity, and unfair distribution of burdens. Following its review of the application and comments from interested parties, OHA concluded that First Co. failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish a special hardship, gross inequity, or unfair distribution of burdens, and therefore denied the application. ( OHA Case No. EXC-23-0002)