NEEP's Blog Energy Efficiency Matters
Standards Needed For Energy-Guzzling TVs
What may not be so clear is how much energy new televisions collectively consume - about 5 percent of the average American household's electricity use. And that figure is projected to grow to 7 percent or 8 percent in the next 10 years. Some new TVs use more energy per year than the kitchen fridge. The rapid market adoption of these new TV sets is unnecessarily driving up home electricity bills at a time when Connecticut residents can least afford it.
Fortunately, the General Assembly is considering a bill that would require television manufacturers, effective in 2013, to reduce the amount of electricity used by new TVs by 50 percent.
These new standards, according to independent analysis by the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, will save Connecticut consumers about $30 million a year by 2020. At the same time, the energy savings generated from the standards will also make it less likely that utilities will have to build expensive power plants which would ultimately be paid for through higher bills.
After nearly two years of careful analysis, public comment and multiple revisions, California set first-in-the-nation minimum efficiency standards for televisions last November. Throughout the regulatory process policy-makers were faced with opposition using scare tactics that promoted false information.
As they did in California, lobbyists from the D.C.-based Consumer Electronics Association are now roaming the halls of Connecticut's legislature. Their testimony on the bill incorrectly claimed that these standards will cost jobs, stifle innovation and result in empty shelves. But their rhetoric is in direct contradiction to the manufacturers' actions. This past January, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, these same companies bragged about the energy efficiency of their new 2010 models, most of which will already comply with the standard proposed in Connecticut and that come with all the latest features, including the ability to play 3-D content and connect to the Internet.
When this gets pointed out, the lobbyists argue we don't need mandatory standards because the industry is already moving toward greater efficiency. This neglects a critically important fact. There will always be stragglers among the manufacturers, who will continue to sell inefficient models that wind up costing consumers more in the long run. Enforceable standards will stop these rogue companies from dumping wasteful products on unsuspecting Connecticut consumers.
Legislators bombarded by industry lobbyists' scare tactics need to remember that trade associations have been replaying these doomsday scenarios on behalf of manufacturers for more than 30 years. They do it every time California considers energy efficiency standards for various products, and they did it in 2004 when Connecticut passed its first package of efficiency standards for commercial air conditioning equipment, clothes washers, refrigerators and freezers, exits signs and a number of other products.
But clearly, it has not stopped states such as Connecticut and California from advancing efficiency standards to the benefit of the entire country. Today's air conditioners keep you just as cool as their inefficient ancestors, refrigerators keep food just as fresh, and after Connecticut legislators pass the TV standards, you will still get that great HD picture on your TV. You will just use less energy and save money.
By passing TV efficiency standards, Connecticut can join California, New York, Massachusetts and other states in helping to accelerate the transformation toward more efficient TVs and prevent manufacturers from dumping their energy-guzzling TVs on Connecticut consumers. It is time for sound policy to prevail and for the industry to cease its irresponsible misinformation campaign.
•Charles Rothenberger is a staff attorney at Connecticut Fund for the Environment. Noah Horowitz is a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Originally published here: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-tv-energy-standards.artapr10,0,2513750.story
