Coin-operated clothes washers are being targeted for minimum
efficiency standards.
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In April, the
PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center released a new report that
continues to build the case for energy efficiency standards in Pennsylvania.
The report, “Leading the Way: Continued Opportunities for New State
Appliance and Equipment Efficiency Standards,” was written by Northeast
Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc. and the Appliance Standards
Awareness Project. This report expands upon an earlier report released
by PennEnvironment, which helped to launch Penn-Environment’s project
to promote energy efficient appliances.
“Leading the Way” found that implementing energy efficiency standards
for a set of 18 common products—all of which currently lack any
type of minimum efficiency standard—would save Pennsylvania’s consumers
and businesses more than $2.5 billion through lowered electricity
bills, and help to increase the stability of our electricity system.
In addition, implementing these standards would lead to reductions
in annual emissions of smog-forming pollution by 2,500 tons and
annual soot-forming emissions by 6,000 tons by 2020. These reductions
take place because energy efficient products use less electricity,
in turn decreasing the electrical demand from the state’s coal-fired
power plants. Smog and soot pollution can cause asthma attacks,
lung disease and even premature death. In Pennsylvania alone, 1,800
citizens have their lives cut short annually because of soot pollution
from power plants.
“This report reinforces that energy efficiency is a win-win-win
policy for Pennsylvania’s environment, our public health and our
economy,” said Nathan Willcox, energy and clean air advocate with
PennEnvironment.
The 18 products identified in the study range from exit signs and
traffic signals, to ice makers and commercial clothes washers. Besides
highlighting ten products identified in the 2002 study, the new
study released by PennEnvironment uncovered further potential for
increased energy efficiency from eight additional appliances.
Establishing a minimum standard
While the report examines a wide variety of both commercial and
residential products, with varying sizes and applications, the common
bond between all of the products is that there are currently no
minimum efficiency standards for any of them at the state or national
level.
Instead, these products are allowed to use energy-wasting technology
that hasn’t been updated in decades, resulting in a higher-than-necessary
demand on our coal-fired power plants, as well as higher-than-necessary
electricity bills for consumers and businesses.
The minimum standards promoted by “Leading the Way” use existing
and affordable energy efficient technologies, so most product models
found on the shelf today are already using these technologies and
meet the standards.
States taking action
While the federal government has set minimum efficiency standards
for a set of products at the national level, it has historically
been the states that have led the way in energy efficiency efforts.
For instance, California established the first energy efficiency
standards for products in 1974, and states from New York to Kansas
followed in the 1980s.
It wasn’t until 1987 that Congress passed the National Appliance
Energy Conservation Act, setting national standards for products
such as air conditioners, residential clothes washers and dryers,
and refrigerators and freezers—many of which already had minimum
efficiency standards in a number of states.
PennEnvironment’s recommendation is for Pennsylvania to continue
this legacy and take the lead in setting efficiency standards for
common products. Other states, including Maryland and New Jersey,
have already seized upon this opportunity and passed standards for
a number of the products included in the report.
An opportunity for Pennsylvania
Here in Pennsylvania, PennEnvironment is working to convince lawmakers
in Harrisburg to join our neighboring states in setting minimum
efficiency standards for products that are commonly bought and sold
in the Commonwealth. Following the release of the earlier study,
PennEnvironment launched our Energy Efficient Pennsylvania campaign,
aimed at raising the profile of the energy efficiency issue and
building support for the establishment of energy efficiency standards
at the state level.
Since 2002, our campaign has achieved a number of important milestones.
In 2003, the policy recommendations of the original report were
used to craft and introduce legislation in Harrisburg that would
have set efficiency standards for a set of 10 products in Pennsylvania.
This legislation was passed overwhelmingly out of the House of Representatives
in 2004, before stalling in the Senate at the end of the legislative
session.
We also worked with the city councils of seven Pennsylvania municipalities
in 2004 to pass resolutions in support of state-level energy efficiency
standards. Cities including Pittsburgh and Philadelphia passed the
resolutions, demonstrating to leaders in Harrisburg that local governments
recognize the need to set efficiency standards.
We have also done extensive outreach to media outlets across the
state, garnering supportive editorials from the Harrisburg Patriot
News and the Philadelphia Inquirer, which have helped to both educate
the public on this issue and raise the profile of the issue for
decision makers.
Lastly, we worked to educate and mobilize a diverse coalition from
across the state in support of state-level energy efficiency standards,
to demonstrate that efficiency standards affect constituencies far
beyond the environmental community. Over 30 groups and businesses
signed on in support of our campaign, including Pennsylvania AARP,
the American Lung Association of Pennsylvania, the utility company
PECO, the Pennsylvania Council of Churches and the Sierra Club.
PennEnvironment believes that energy efficiency is the cleanest,
fastest and cheapest way to reduce our dependence on dirty fossil
fuels, helping to protect our environment, improve our public health,
and build our economy. In the coming months, we will continue to
combine hard-hitting research, public education and state-level
advocacy in creating concrete change in Pennsylvania on this and
other environmental issues.
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