Cal. Energy Limits on DTV Converters Will Hit Transition, Say NAB, CEA
NAB and other industry leaders joined the CEA Tues. in urging the Cal. Energy Commission to withdraw its 1w standby and 8w operational energy consumption limit on DTV converter boxes.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The Commission, which decided to reexamine its mandatory energy limits at CEA’s urging, is expected to give a ruling this week. The Commission has only proposed so far to extend the effective date for DTV adaptors by a year to Jan. 2008. The Commission said the delay was “consistent” with a federal subsidy for DTV adapters that begins Jan. 2008 and it would give it time to “investigate technology options.” NTIA, which will be responsible for disbursing $40 vouchers redeemable toward the purchase of converter boxes, is expected this year to issue preliminary guidelines and seek comments on how the voucher program will be administered.
DTV converters will be necessary for existing analog sets to receive over-the-air digital signals when the analog service goes dark in Feb. 2009, said CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro and NAB Pres. David Rehr in a joint statement: “This regulation would likely raise the cost and limit the availability of these products, potentially leaving millions of Californians on the wrong side of the digital divide.” The CEC, they said, “acted prematurely” setting energy efficiency standards for a product that’s not yet on the market.
Referring to the $1 billion federal subsidy program for converter boxes, they said the CEC has mandated energy limits on the boxes before govt. and industry could define what types of boxes would be eligible for the subsidy. “The CEC’s regulation jeopardizes the ability of Californians to participate in this program in a meaningful way.” The regulations would result in the boxes coming at a premium price in Cal., reducing the value of the subsidy, they added.
They said the CEC had relied on “false facts and assumptions” in regulating the converters. For example, they said, the CEC concluded that 46,000 converter boxes are in use in the state, while none is available in the U.S. “Nevertheless, the Commission conducted a cost-benefit analysis and calculated energy consumption and savings figures for this nonexistent product.” CEC must withdraw its “unnecessary and unjustified” regulation to ensure that “no American is left behind in the digital transition.” They said saving energy was important, but the CEC’s regulation “misses the point.” The digital transition itself will save energy as broadcasters stop running both analog and digital transmitters. “In fact, with every month that the transition to digital television is delayed, California could relinquish more than $1.6 million or almost $20 million per year in energy savings.”
MSTV Pres. David Donavan said consumer acceptance was key to the digital transition and “any delay or impediment to the roll out of digital to analog converter boxes could slow down the digital transition.” Others urging withdrawal of the regulation include Charles Jablonski, former vp-broadcast & network engineering at NBC, and Robert Schwartz of the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition.