The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would make life more expensive for millions of people who live in manufactured and mobile homes. The bill would strip the Department of Energy of its authority over energy efficiency standards for manufactured housing, a move that advocates warn will lock residents into higher utility bills for decades.

Manufactured home residents already pay some of the highest energy costs in the country relative to income. Many live on fixed or low incomes, and energy bills routinely take up an outsized share of their monthly expenses. DOE’s updated standards, finalized in 2022 after years of delay, were projected to save residents hundreds of dollars a year — savings that are especially critical for seniors and low-income households.

Instead of addressing these affordability challenges, the House-passed bill would roll back federal oversight and allow less efficient homes to be built and sold. That benefits manufacturers by lowering upfront construction costs, while shifting the long-term financial burden onto residents who have little choice but to absorb higher heating and cooling bills year after year.

This is how harmful policy moves through Congress: a technical-sounding change buried in legislation, with serious consequences for people who can least afford them. If this bill becomes law, it will make housing less affordable and deepen energy insecurity in manufactured home communities across the country.

Click “START WRITING” to tell your senators to vote NO on this bill and oppose legislation that raises utility costs for manufactured home residents.