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Wright in Griffin, Georgia: Reversed Water-Heater Rule Saved Rinnai Plant and 250 Jobs

May 6, 2025 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:02:00

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Atlanta News First reported that U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Griffin, Georgia on Friday, touring a Rinnai factory that makes tankless water heaters and was said to be at risk of shutting down, with workers out of their jobs, if not for a policy change the Trump administration reversed minutes before Wright spoke to employees, according to the report.

Wright said that preventing Americans from buying the most efficient, most cost-effective hot water heater is just arrogant, and pointed to the humming modern factory as proof that common sense matters, according to Wright. The report said lifting restrictions on gas products and decorative fireplaces saved $36 billion in taxpayer funds and saved Rinnai’s 250 jobs, and that the factory builds non-condensing water heaters, according to the report.

The segment explained that Congress used the Congressional Review Act to overturn past-administration policies within 60 days of a new president, according to the report. Wright called Georgia a manufacturing powerhouse, said the administration is not against EVs but wants to get the government’s hands off the scale on mandates, and, on tariffs and rising energy costs, said the country is in the middle of the sausage-making and will see a golden age of investment in the United States, according to Wright.

Why it matters

The local-news segment is the appliance-deregulation story at plant level: one named factory, 250 jobs, and a Congressional Review Act reversal, as reported and as Wright stated it on site.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Atlanta News First - May 2, 2025”, 2025-05-06 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-05-06). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.