EPA Soon to Weigh Changes in Energy Star Set-Top Box Service Provider Rules
The EPA will consider changes in the Energy Star set-top box specification for cable, satellite and IPTV service providers to “allow both utilities and manufacturers to further their promotion” of compliant boxes, the agency said in response to comments. It said talks with interested parties on proposed changes will start this month. The EPA has started work on revising the specification for box makers, releasing last week the first draft of version 3.0, which would make the program stricter.
One commenter asked the EPA not to change the set-top box and service provider programs “in anticipation that a particular program model will be used” for utility rebate programs. There are opportunities for “creative programs between energy utilities and service providers” such as those targeting the removal of old non-compliant boxes, using software upgrades to improve the energy efficiency of boxes in the field and in-home energy “tune-ups,” the commenter said. The EPA doesn’t identify those who file comments.
The EPA was also urged not to “lower the bar” for service provider purchase and “fleet” requirements, because many providers already have made “significant commitments in qualifying, labeling and promoting” Energy Star boxes. Easing deployment requirements below the current 50 percent would “greatly diminish the ’star’ status that current participants have earned and that future program participants must earn,” a commenter said. Only four providers, including AT&T and DirecTV, have joined the program. No cable operator has joined, but Comcast has indicated that it will buy enough Energy Star boxes in 2010 to qualify.
The EPA responded that it’s looking for ideas to “lower the barriers to entry for service providers to label efficient boxes, without diminishing the status of service providers who have made significant fleet or purchase commitments.” Currently, service providers who don’t join the Energy Star program can’t use its label on boxes that meet the specification.
Responding to another commenter, the EPA stood by its methods for testing compliance. “The random sample testing approach has been successfully implemented for various Energy Star consumer electronics and IT products for many years,” the agency said. “Because the manufacturing tolerances and component variations differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, the EPA has left it up to the manufacturer to ensure that all products meet Energy Star requirements.” That approach also makes it easy to verify set-top box energy use in the field, it said. The commenter had called the method of randomly selecting a “very small number” of boxes for testing “unfair” because it assumes that any box is representative of all of the set-top boxes “within a line of products.”