Energy Department Says It Has ‘Mandate’ to Force ‘Market Transformation’ for Household Appliances Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy has a “mandate” to issue regulations that will determine what household appliances are available to Americans in the future. as a “mandate” to issue regulations to determine what household appliances are available to Americans in the future. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the recently reestablished Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), Zoi pointed to four tactics the Obama administration intended use to advance the “deployment of clean energy.” The first three were...