No, I'm not kidding; that is NEMA's 's official response.
The only way to counter that is with DATA ... not speculation, guesses, or war stories. We need to compile accounts that read like this: "I took a new, fresh out of the box, UL listed appliance, plugged it in to and AFCI protected receptacle under test bench conditions, and the AFCI tripped repeatedly. This happened with several different AFCI's, and of different makes. Evaluation of the appliance by its' manufacturer found no fault with the appliance."
Another type of data might be "The AFCI never tripped until I replaced the light switch with a "Brand L" dimmer / occupancy sensor / bottle opener, after which the AFCI refused to set. Manufacturer "L" tells me this is a common problem, and they advise against using their switches on AFCI-protected circuits."
THAT's the sort of statement we need to make. Until we can produce such data, the "AFCI steamroller" is just going to keep rolling over the committee.
