The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Friday a plan to crack down on home hot water heaters, part of a string of proposed rules from the Biden administration on appliances that critics warn will limit consumer power.

The new proposed rule would tighten requirements for water heaters, dictating that “most common-sized electric water heaters to achieve efficiency gains with heat pump technology and gas-fired instantaneous water heaters to achieve efficiency gains through condensing technology,” according to a press release from the agency.

Such standards would save consumers $11 billion annually on utility bills and $198 billion for Americans over a 30-year period, DOE said. The regulations would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 500 million metric tons during the same time period, the agency claimed. 

“Today’s actions — together with our industry partners and stakeholders — improve outdated efficiency standards for common household appliances, which is essential to slashing utility bills for American families and cutting harmful carbon emissions,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. 

“This proposal reinforces the trajectory of consumer savings that forms the key pillar of Bidenomics and builds on the unprecedented actions already taken by this Administration to lower energy costs for working families across the nation,” she added.

While DOE said the proposed standards would “accelerate deployment” of electric heat pump water heaters, Fox News reported they would force cheaper gas heaters off the market. The news outlet noted that non-condensing gas-fired heaters are cheaper, having a smaller size and lower installation costs.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said the Biden administration should “Leave us alone,” arguing that the proposed rule is unlikely to actually benefit many Americans financially because of the cost of equipment.

“These products already exist in the free market,” the congressman said. “Consumers should decide whether the upfront cost of a heat-pump water heater is worth the possible long term savings. In many cases, the monthly savings never make up for the upfront cost of the equipment.”

DOE said the new rule would go into effect in 2029 if adopted within the proposed timeline. As reported by The Washington Post, the proposed standards could still be revised after the agency intakes public comments and holds a public hearing.

The Biden administration has finalized or proposed 18 different efficiency standards for a variety of products, DOE said. These include gas stoves, air conditioners, washing machines, and refrigerators, per Fox News. 

“It’s just spreading to more and more appliances,” Ben Lieberman, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital. “It seems that almost everything that plugs in or fires up around the house is either subject to a pending regulation or soon will be.”

“These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they restrict consumer choice,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing well following an emergency heart operation early Sunday local time in which he received a pacemaker, according to his doctors.

Dr. Eyal Nof, the head of invasive electrophysiology service at the Sheba Medical Center, said Netanyahu received treatment after a monitoring device he had fitted a week ago issued an alarm about a transient heart block.

“He was admitted urgently to Sheba Medical Center,” Nof said in a video alongside professor Roy Beinart, senior physician and director at the Davidai Arrhythmia Center at Sheba’s Heart Institute. “During the night we implanted a pacemaker. All went well. The prime minister is feeling very well this morning.”

A joint statement from Netanyahu’s office and the medical center said the prime minister “feels fine” and will be discharged late Sunday after some time recovering at the hospital, Fox News reports. It also said that a Cabinet meeting expected for Sunday had been postponed until Monday morning. 

A pacemaker is a device implanted under the skin near the collarbone to prevent the heart from beating too slowly, according to Mayo Clinic. Such a device sends electrical signals to chambers of the heart to regulate heart rhythm. 

Netanyahu, 73, was hospitalized last weekend after he reportedly lost consciousness. As noted by The Times of Israel, the Sheba Medical Center said a diagnosis indicated Netanyahu suffered from a bout of dehydration and doctors implanted a heart monitor as a precautionary measure. He was released from the hospital a day later.

The prime minister posted a video message to Twitter offering an update on his health prior to his second hospitalization this weekend.

“I want to update you on what’s going to happen,” Netanyahu said in the video. “Last week they gave me a monitoring device. The device beeped and said I need a pacemaker, and I need to do that already tonight. I feel great, but I listen to my doctors.”

“The doctors tell me that I will be free tomorrow afternoon already,” he added. “I will be discharged from the hospital ready to arrive at the Knesset for the vote.”

עדכון ממני אליכם >> pic.twitter.com/Z6RH1ba4ez

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 22, 2023

The vote referenced by Netanyahu regards his proposed judicial reforms in the country, which would give Israeli parliament a greater role in the selection of judges and the ability to override decisions by the Supreme Court overturning laws, The Daily Wire previously reported. 

In the spring, Netanyahu had delayed plans for a vote after the plan prompted strikes and protests in the country. The vote is now expected to take place on Monday.