Energy-saving tips for hot weather among pages taken offline
The deleted webpages were filed under the department’s “energy saver” section and contained advice on how to keep homes cool during summer, reduce energy consumption, and weatherstrip — seal air leaks — around the home. The Guardian identified the removals by cross-referencing a list of deleted URLs provided by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit that hosts more than a trillion archived webpages.
It is unclear exactly when the pages were taken down, according to the report. The Guardian determined probable timeframes by comparing the dates the pages were last successfully archived by the Internet Archive. At least 18 of the deleted pages were last live on July 1 and July 2, suggesting they were removed during that window. Another 73 pages were last seen in June, and many more had not been archived since before May 2025.
The deletions occurred days after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly asked New Yorkers to set their air conditioners to 78 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce strain on the city’s electrical grid amid a historic heatwave. On July 2, the administration announced a proposed rule it titled “Permanently End Green New Scam Appliance Mandates” that would weaken efficiency standards for appliances.
The Department of Energy did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about when and why the webpages were deleted, or whether the deletions were related to the proposed rule, the report said.
Andrew deLaski of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, a coalition of environmental, consumer, and utility industry groups, said the efficiency standards program has proven effective. “The strain on our [electrical] grid is a lot lower than it would be, and people’s utility bills are a lot lower than they would be,” deLaski told the Guardian. He said a functioning air conditioner “is a health and safety issue for the elderly, for folks with health conditions, and for the very young.”
An analysis by deLaski’s coalition found that the next round of planned efficiency standard updates would save each household an average of $160 annually on utility bills and could significantly ease peak summer electricity demand, reducing pressure on an electrical grid already strained by AI data centers and more frequent heatwaves.
Itai Vardi, research manager at the Energy and Policy Institute, a nonprofit fossil fuel and utility watchdog, described the proposed rule and web page removals as “just absurd.” He said the actions contradict the administration’s stated support for consumer choice. “It’s ironic that the Trump administration and Republicans love to talk about consumer choice as a tenet of American freedom, but they’re actually taking that away,” Vardi told the Guardian. “What they’re doing here is rolling back the rules on energy efficiency, but also trying to hide helpful tips and information for the public, and it’s going to cost people more money.”
The removals are the latest in a broader pattern of federal information being taken down, the Guardian reported. Similar deletions have occurred at agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and in data related to queer and trans youth.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has attempted to weaken energy efficiency standards. Last May, the department tried to repeal 47 regulations, mostly appliance efficiency standards. The administration also attempted to terminate the Energy Star program, but was blocked by bipartisan congressional opposition earlier this year.
DeLaski characterized the moves as driven by an anti-regulatory agenda. “It’s a senseless dedication to an anti-regulatory agenda driven by what I would say are anti-regulatory zealots,” he said.