Why did energy-saving tips disappear from the Energy Department website?

The Department of Energy has quietly deleted more than 1,600 pages from its Energy Saver website, a resource homeowners used for tips on cutting utility bills and pollution. By July 3, two useful pages disappeared: one on doing your own home energy assessment (checking for air leaks, weak insulation, and inefficient lightbulbs), and one that helped people find a professional to do that assessment. Other lost pages covered shopping for efficient appliances, installing "cool roofs," and DIY energy-saving projects. Over 300 of the pages had drawn 160,000 views in the 30 days before removal, during a summer of heat waves.

The timing raised questions. The pages vanished around the same time New York City's mayor urged residents to set air conditioners to 78 degrees during a heat wave, advice that mirrored guidance the DOE itself used to post (keeping thermostats between 75 and 78 degrees). The deletions also came right after the agency proposed a rule making it harder for future administrations to set efficiency standards for household appliances. The DOE has not explained why the pages were taken down, and information specific to its appliance standards program remains online.

For homeowners, the practical effect is that a free federal guide to spotting energy waste in your house and finding an assessor is no longer available on the government's site. The change fits a broader pattern of federal agencies pulling consumer-facing climate and energy information from public view this year.