Cal. Energy Efficiency Bill Weakened, but TVs Still a Target

Only “on” mode TV energy use is indented in the bill after other product names were deleted, said Darby Kernan, an aide to Sen. Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro), the bill’s author. But a labeling provision has been added. “It takes them longer to do standards than it does labels, so we said we should do labels first and then get to standards,” she told us. Under the new provisions, TVs would have to provide labels that disclose products’ average annual energy costs, she said.

The Cal. Cable & Telecom Assn. got involved because the bill sought to regulate set-top boxes, said Assn. Dir.-Govt. Affairs Marc Burgat. In its original form, the bill would have had the CEC set standards that reduced “on” mode power consumption 25% by 2010, he said. Cable contended that industry was involved in voluntary efforts at the federal level to set power limits on set-top boxes, he added. Industry would have concerns about mandatory standards, in light of “much better alternatives” for energy efficiency of high-tech products, said CEA Senior Dir.-Technology Policy Douglas Johnson. But prioritization makes sense “to the extent that it will be helpful to hear from the Commission what its foremost concerns and interests are concerning consumer electronics energy use,” he added.

Johnson dismissed concerns that the Cal. bill would prompt copycat legislation in other states next year. “Increasingly state policymakers are recognizing that there are existing and better approaches for addressing energy efficiency in the consumer audio and video realm than mandatory standards,” he said. But conservation groups see Cal. leading the way in environmental policies. Cal.’s energy limits on DTV converter boxes forced an industry compromise that led to a 2 w “sleep” standard set by the NTIA for coupon eligible boxes.

Corbett introduced the bill because home energy costs could go up 30% with people buying plasma TVs and other HDTVs, said Kernan. A CEC commissioner told Corbett that plasma sets are the “Hummers and the SUVs of tomorrow,” she said. EPA’s Energy Star labels for TVs are misleading, she said, because they relate only to the standby mode. An LCD TV without an Energy Star label could consume “way less” total energy than a plasma with the label, Kernan said.

Kernan rejected industry arguments that TVs were preempted because they're covered by federal laws even though the Dept. of Energy (DoE) chose not to regulate the product. The DoE is “clearly not doing its job,” she said: “We don’t believe it [TVs] is preempted, and if it is it will be up to the CEC to request a waiver.” She said in many appliance standards that the DoE has adopted, “they followed our lead. We want them to follow our lead on this [TVs] because we want to take a really tough line. Global warming is a serious problem and so are huge energy bills that consumer are hit by with home entertainment systems.” The Cal. EPA and the CEC are very supportive of the bill’s aims, she said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate was expected to mark up SB- 1115 this week. CE industry concerns with the bill include a provision that directs the FTC to add regulation to include PCs, computer monitors, TVs, set-top boxes and digital video recording devices to the Energy Guide labeling program. The CEA is also worried about a provision that clarifies that federal law wouldn’t apply to products that aren’t covered by federal standards, though federal law covers them. That could encourage states to regulate TVs, according to the CEA.