The Trump administration tried to end the government's Energy Star program last year, but now Congress has passed — and President Trump has signed into law — bipartisan budget legislation that has the potential to strengthen the energy efficiency program by giving it dedicated funding.
Such policy reversals have so far been rare for the Trump administration. But pushback against killing Energy Star came from a broad swath of stakeholders, including industries like real estate and construction, to which President Trump has longstanding ties. More than 1,000 manufacturers, home builders, advocacy groups and local governments signed a letter last April asking the administration to keep the program.
"What it shows very clearly is that Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, strongly support Energy Star and want to see it continued," says Ben Evans, federal legislative director for the U.S. Green Building Council, which advocated for saving the program.
Lawmakers allocated just over $33 million to the Environmental Protection Agency for Energy Star, slightly more than the 2024 fiscal year. That also reverses a decade-long trend, since the first Trump administration, of reducing the program's budget, according to the Congressional Research Service. That leaves the program financially healthy, though it still faces staffing challenges.
Most Americans probably haven't noticed changes in the program yet, because previously approved products are still available in stores. But advocates say the program's work has been disrupted — and that could have lingering effects.
"Getting new products certified as Energy Star has been slowed with the loss of staff capacity," Evans says, and his group plans to watch closely to see how the EPA manages the program in coming months with the new funding.
The campaign to end Energy Star
Almost 90% of Americans recognize the blue and white Energy Star logo, which the Environmental Protection Agency awards to the most energy-efficient appliances. The EPA estimates the Energy Star program has saved Americans over $500 billion in energy costs since it was established in 1992.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin questioned his own agency's calculations for how much money the program has saved consumers at a Congressional hearing last May.
"I would happily and eagerly find out from inside of the agency how they had previously calculated that figure, because I anticipate that they're taking credit for a heck of a lot more than they should," Zeldin told lawmakers.
EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch declined to say if Zeldin has investigated the issue since then. While the economic benefits appear unclear to him, the EPA's own staff backed up its savings calculations with five pages of technical notes about how the calculations were made. The savings claim remains on the EPA website.
President Trump's proposed budget last year would have zeroed out Energy Star funding at EPA. Calls for ending or privatizing the program have come mostly from libertarian and conservative groups, such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation.
"We see consumer ratings for a very broad variety of things, including Consumer Reports, which provides guidance to consumers to buy different products. I don't see why appliances should be any different," says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment. She argues that if the federal government didn't provide Energy Star and people found the information useful enough, a private company would step in to fill the need.
Zeldin expressed support for privatizing Energy Star at the Congressional hearing last May and said the agency already was meeting with organizations interested in taking it over. But even advocates for privatizing Energy Star say that's unlikely now that Congress has stipulated that money be spent to keep the program within the government.
Evans says Energy Star already outsources much of its work to the private sector, including efficiency testing required for a product to earn the Energy Star label. He says more of the program could be contracted out in the future, but responsibility for managing it will remain with the EPA.
The future of Energy Star
The budget package that includes Energy Star funding passed the House 397 to 28 and the Senate 82 to 15. While members of both parties voted overwhelmingly for the overall budget package, Republicans who worked to preserve the program appear reluctant to comment on it now.
The Building Owners and Managers Association credits Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson, who chairs an appropriations subcommittee that oversees EPA funding, and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Neither lawmaker responded to NPR's questions.
For Energy Star advocates, the big concern now is how the EPA will run the program.
"The Energy Star program is not fully out of the woods yet," says Jeremy Symons, senior advisor at Environmental Protection Network, a group of former EPA employees. "It's one thing to keep the Energy Star program alive and fully funded, but what we really need is for the program to be fully staffed."
The Trump administration reorganized the EPA last year, promising to cut staffing to Reagan-era levels. Now Energy Star has fewer employees assigned to it, with losses in the leadership and among the rank-and-file.
The EPA didn't answer questions about how many Energy Star staff members remain at the agency or its plans to staff the program in the future. "EPA is reviewing the Energy Star program to ensure responsible use of taxpayer dollars and full compliance with statutory requirements," Hirsch wrote in a statement emailed to NPR. "As the Administrator has consistently stated, he will follow the law as enacted by Congress."
Given that strong majorities in the Republican-controlled House and the Senate passed the legislation with Energy Star funding, advocates hope that will mean a bright future for the program.
"This is likely the minimum level of funding we'll have — give or take a little bit — moving forward and we should start planning around that to build the best program we can within this budget," Evans says.
Copyright 2026 NPR
