Retail Products

Appliance Efficiency Standards - An overwhelming success story

Both state and federal appliance standards have long, successful histories of bringing accelerated energy efficiency to US consumers and businesses. Efficiencies that have brought energy and cost savings to consumers, relief to our strained energy system and significant reductions of harmful emissions to our planet. Mandatory efficiency standards remove the most wasteful products from the market, build our economy, and protect consumers from wasteful energy- and money- guzzling products.

Other reasons appliance standards work:

• Ensure Security of Energy Needs - State and federal governments help ensure that the energy needs of their citizens can be met. As the energy demands of our country grow, energy efficiency, not the construction of additional power plants, is the cheapest, cleanest, fastest way to meet those growing needs.


• Encourage Innovation in Manufacturing - Working with voluntary programs and activities that push the edge of efficient products, appliance standards shed the least efficient laggards from store shelves preventing manufacturers from perpetuating antiquated, wasteful technologies.


• Drive Investment in Energy Efficient Products -Mandatory standards address a number of market barriers that often prevent investments in energy efficient products. From lack of consumer information to landlord-renter split incentive (landlord pays for appliances, renter pays utility bills), standards require a basic level of energy performance for all consumers.


• Protect Consumers - By statute, the US DOE must establish new standards that are cost effective to average consumers. Any possible increase in price due to improvements in efficiency will be recouped by the average consumer over the life of the product. The average payback for 26 of the most recent standards is 3.1 years .


• Provide Consistent Framework for Manufacturers - National standards provide the manufacturing community a path towards certainty and consistency. Manufacturers were instrumental in securing the first national standards through the National Appliance Efficiency Conservation Act in 1987 (NAECA).


• Save Money, Energy, and Reduce GHG Emissions - In terms of energy savings, cost savings and emission reductions due to appliance standards, the American Council for a Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) estimates that National appliance standards (often driven by the initial action of states) have saved the US approximately (annually by 2020 except where noted);
  • 720 TWh of electricity (14% of what the total U.S .electricity consumption projected for 2035 would have been without standards)
  • 950 trillion Btu of Natural Gas (Enough to heat 32% of all natural gas-heated U.S. homes)
  • 240 GW electrical grid capacity (represents 18% of projected US capacity)
  • 470 million metric tons of CO2 emissions (equivalent to annual emissions from 118 coal fired power plants)
  • Cumulative economic savings of $1.1 Trillion for product purchasers by 2035



• Generate Jobs - National appliance energy efficiency standards created about 340,000 jobs in 2010, according to the report, Appliance and Equipment Standards: A Money Maker and Job Creator, released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP).

More Information

For more information on training and technical assistance opportunities, please contact NEEP's Appliance Standards Project Manager, David Lis at 781-860-9177 ext. 127 or email at djlis@neep.org.

Appliance Efficiency Standards Project

2012 presents the region with an evolving landscape for appliance standards. As was the case in 2011, attention will largely remain on Federal activities with an interested eye on state level prospects for 2013.

Maintaining focus on Federal Standards Process

Whereas the Northeast region continues to be a leader in state-level standards enactment, the Project will maintain its focus on the federal process by both complimenting national advocate groups and helping to grow the number of truly invested stakeholders in the region that will provide support for years to come. Often, federal standards need to take into account the unique energy profiles and characteristics of individual regions in order to provide true savings for all Americans. Therefore, a concerted regional effort to push for new appliance efficiency standards at the federal level in 2011 remains a strategic priority for establishing a sustainable clean energy policy for the Northeast.

The Project will also continue an ambitious effort to build stronger institutional support from the utility companies and other ratepayer-funded energy efficiency program administrators, as well as state agencies focused on energy. Not only can these institutions provide credibility and political weight to an advocacy effort, they possess the technical expertise to analyze and recommend technology/data driven standard recommendations.

Lighting Standards transition begins

2012 represents the first year of a three year process to implement new efficiency standards for general service light bulbs. The Project is keenly aware of the consumer support needed as we transition into a new market of residential lighting and plans to work in a coordinated fashion to deliver consistent messages.

More Information

For more information on training and technical assistance opportunities, please contact NEEP's Appliance Standards Project Manager, David Lis at 781-860-9177 ext. 127 or email at djlis@neep.org.

2011 Project Goals and Strategies:

To continue the success of the Project, the Project Partners will work together to achieve the following outcomes by the end of 2012:

Goal #1: Maintain high level of awareness and understanding of appliance standards opportunities across region.
Maintain a Regional Advisory Group made up of interested energy efficiency stakeholders to meet at least quarterly, facilitated by NEEP. Project aims to involve stakeholders from state energy offices, efficiency programs, efficiency advocacy organizations, etc.

Goal #2: Achieve strong and timely federal appliance standards
NEEP and its allies will support advocacy for several of the proposed federal rulemakings.

• See NEEP's 2012 Federal Rulemaking Preview for more detail
• State level benefits from upcoming federal appliance standards

Goal #3: Develop savings attribution models for energy efficiency program activities that support the development, adoption and/or advocacy of minimum efficiency appliance standards, in order to secure regulatory approval in select states.

Engage states to discuss allowing regulated efficiency program administrators to play a greater role in setting and adopting new appliance standards, and working to create a framework to allow them to claim energy savings as part of their regulatory review processes.

Goal #4: Prepare Northeastern states for 2013 state standards opportunities.

Track activities at the California Energy Commission with respect to their plans to develop new appliance standards for a number of select products. Based on February's scoping decision, NEEP expects that standards for Computers, monitors and Commercial Clothes Dryers may be developed, among others. Northeast states could mimic California by promoting passage of legislation in their states reflecting CA technical standards.

Goal #5: Execute a proactive messaging campaign in support and defense of appliance standards as a valuable policy mechanism.

• Establish presence in media when issues of appliance efficiency standards are featured.
• Respond to misinformation and ideological attacks on the standards program in media.
• Proactively build support for the standards program with industry stakeholders.

More Information

For more information on training and technical assistance opportunities, please contact NEEP's Appliance Standards Project Manager, David Lis at 781-860-9177 ext. 127 or email at djlis@neep.org.