Efficiency First

The Department of Energy has implemented stricter energy efficiency standards for manufacturers and a more aggressive policy towards companies that violate them. An upcoming rule will provide tighter enforcement of Energy Star regulations and testing. It will also require manufacturers to provide more detailed compliance records.

Before the department’s more stringent enforcement, companies had regulated themselves for the most part, which led to the incorrect Energy Star labeling of hundreds of thousands of products. Since the formation of the Office of Enforcement two years ago, the DOE has filed nearly 50 cases against manufactures for failing testing or violating energy requirements.

The recent crackdown on compliance is a major step forward in the DOE’s pledge to provide consumers with more accurate information on energy efficient products. The department has crafted more effective verification methods and will continue to enforce the guidelines more thoroughly than it has in the past. Companies who had already satisfied the Energy Star standards are pleased that others who have violated them are now receiving discipline. Some manufacturers, however, have expressed frustration at the new requirements, which according to them, the DOE implemented without proper warning.

Nevertheless, Energy Star and other federal energy efficiency programs are making significant progress towards reducing the energy consumption of our appliances, and the DOE’s stricter guidelines will inhibit the wrongful use of Energy Star labels.

To learn more about DOE and Energy Star click here.