No Compliance Issues Reported for California’s TV Efficiency Standards

Less than a month after they took effect, California’s energy standards for TVs, the first in the nation, are working without any major hitch, said state regulators, TV makers and efficiency advocates. “Contrary to doom and gloom predictions from opponents, there is an abundance and variety of all types of TVs available for purchase and customers are buying,” said Adam Gottlieb, spokesman for the California Energy Commission (CEC). California’s efficiency standards are “essentially old Energy Star requirements that the market has long since surpassed, which suggests that the CEC’s process was more about creating unnecessary regulations than saving energy,” said Douglas Johnson, CEA vice president of technology policy.

CEA, the CE Retailers Coalition and other industry players opposed the regulations, saying they would lead to loss of jobs and tax revenue to the state. The industry also raised fears about the regulations keeping some TV models from being sold in the state. The standards are helping California consumers “keep more dollars in the their pockets, saving energy, and avoiding the need to construct expensive power plants,” said Gottlieb: “It is disappointing that out-of-state lobbyists, high-priced PR operatives, and other adversaries are opposed to energy efficiency efforts in California and continue to engage in negative and misleading propaganda."

CEA’s Johnson said the standards resulted from “poor analysis by the CEC, a misinformation campaign” by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) “and a lobbying effort” by Pacific Gas & Electric, which had a “vested interest in pushing regulations on others.” Flat-panel and HDTV sets are “highly energy-efficient” today because of “industry innovation and the success” of the voluntary Energy Star program, he said.

Retailers oppose “state-by-state approaches” such as California’s, “given that most retailers’ supply chains don’t work effectively this way,” but they have been working “very hard” to fully comply with the California mandate, a CERC spokesman said. CERC and most retailers support a “national approach” to tackle energy efficiency of TVs, he said, referring to the DOE’s rulemaking on TV efficiency standards.

Panasonic was “planning to comply” with California’s standards and “our current products comply with the law,” said Mark Sharp, group manager at the company’s corporate environmental department. “So we didn’t see any significant issues with the current California energy standard.” Sharp said it was “hard to say” if the regulations caused any increase in prices for TVs. “It’s hard to directly attribute to California, but anytime you make design changes geared toward more efficient products there is always significant investment involved with research.” So there certainly are “additional costs for manufacturers,” he said. Panasonic has had no issues with not being able to sell any of its models in the state as result of the regulations, he said.

Sharp voiced concerns about what “ultimately happens down the road.” The current standards, which apply to TVs of up to 58 inches, is achievable, he said. “But if we go down that road and we have increasingly more stringent standards, there might be issues,” especially if the CEC targets larger TVs that are currently exempt, he said. “At some point they might revise the standard to develop a third tier [and] those are all unknowns and potentially could cause significant issues.” A spokesman for another TV maker said the company had no issues with the regulations because it has been working several years before its effective date to step up the efficiency of its devices.

"Despite dire claims from the CEA and its members, we have not heard a single complaint” from manufacturers or retailers about being able to meet the 2011 standard, said Noah Horowitz, senior NRDC scientist. “In fact, the entire 2011 product lines from leading manufacturers such as Vizio, Sharp and Panasonic already meet the more stringent 2013 standards, two years ahead of schedule.” Horowitz commended the TV industry for working hard to improve the efficiency of its products. “Their lobbyists on the other hand should be called to task for their fear mongering and unfounded claims that the standards would result in empty shelves and the closure of most of the independent TV retailers,” he said.

The CEC said the first set of standards that took effect in January would reduce energy consumption of TVs by an average of 33 percent. The second phase taking effect in 2013 would reduce energy use of the sets by an average of 49 percent in conjunction with the first set of standards, it said. The standards can save consumers $18-$30 per year per TV in energy costs, it said.