Appliance efficiency standards — lower bills, less pollution

Keith Reopelle

Last spring Governor Doyle signed Act 141 into law doubling the state's investment in energy efficiency programs that will reduce electric and heating bills, reduce the need for new power plants and transmission lines and, in turn, reduce power plant emissions of soot, smog, mercury and global warming pollution. I served on the Governor's Task Force on Renewables and Energy Efficiency that developed the policies in that bill, but one of the best policies to increase energy efficiency that I pushed on that committee wasn't included in that bill: the adoption of minimum efficiency standards for appliances and machinery used in homes and businesses. Clean Wisconsin is currently working with members of that committee, legislators and industry groups that had concerns with the efficiency standards to make sure they are adopted in the 2007-08 legislative session.

The problem

Most appliances have minimum efficiency standards set by the federal Department of Energy to prevent the most egregious waste of electricity and heating fuel. Still, there is much waste and much greater savings available through more efficient technologies. The American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE) and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) have developed a list of appliances and other products that have no minimum efficiency standards, even though a wide selection of models that attain much higher levels of efficiency are readily available.

Since 2004, ten states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington) have established new energy savings standards covering between five and thirty products. "Advances in technology keep yielding opportunities to cut energy waste," said Steve Nadel, Executive Director of ACEEE. "Standards that improve the energy efficiency of common consumer products and commercial equipment are a cornerstone of a sensible energy policy, for a state or for the nation."

The solution

We'll be writing, refining and promoting a Wisconsin policy with minimum standards for at least 15 products including residential furnaces, DVD players and recorders, commercial boilers, residential pool pumps and light fixtures. If Wisconsin adopts the minimum standards for these products in 2007, by 2020 home owners and businesses will see savings on their energy bills worth approximately $135 million. We will also reduce acid rain pollution by more than 4,000 metric tons and reduce global warming pollution by 300,000 metric tons.

"The states are leading the way when it comes to energy-savings standards," said Andrew deLaski, Executive Director of ASAP. "With consumers and businesses getting hammered by high energy prices and persistent worries about our nation's addiction to imported energy, state policymakers are looking to energy efficiency. It's the cheapest, fastest and safest way to meet our energy needs."

A state such as Wisconsin that has no fossil fuel resources in the ground should be leading the way in adopting these efficiency standards. We spend over $10 billion a year importing fossil fuels, so until we adopt these standards we are literally throwing money out the window and out of the state.