CEA Driving Global Stand on Energy Efficiency For CE Products

Natural Resources Canada has begun looking at standards for external power supplies and set-top boxes, including digital converters. A representative of the Canadian govt. agency attended an EPA workshop on converter boxes in July. “There is a threat and concern about mandatory approaches in Canada as well,” Johnson said. But standards being developed by the Canadian Standards Assn. (CSA) will be voluntary, he said. Johnson said he hoped for close coordination among the CSA, industry and govts. in Canada and the U.S., because N. America “is an important and integrated market.”

The industry has raised concerns about mandatory approaches with Natural Resources Canada, said an industry source. The agency is expected await the outcome of the CSA effort, the source said. The CEA is also paying attention to efforts in Asia, Europe and S. America, Johnson said. Though efforts toward govt. regulations are under way, he said, there are more “voluntary initiatives and a greater preference for voluntary solutions rather than mandatory.” In Australia, the govt. is working to impose standards on products including electronics, he added.

In the U.S., the EPA and a CEA standards group are expected to bring out specifications for DTV converter boxes this year. It’s unclear whether the NTIA, which expressed interest in the boxes’ energy consumption in its rulemaking on converter box subsidies will take action or defer to the EPA. “There is an interest in both the industry-led effort and the EPA to complete these projects as soon as possible given the manufacturing timeline for these products,” Johnson said. Groups like the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) have suggested that NTIA adopt a 2-tier system of bigger subsidies for energy efficient boxes and smaller ones for less efficient ones. Johnson declined to comment on whether the industry would support that approach. Besides the 2 voluntary programs, Cal. and N.Y. are expected to nail down mandatory power limits for the boxes this year.

Asked whether there’s any effort at harmonization of at least the voluntary standards, Johnson said the CEA expects there to be “synergy and coordination between the CEA standard and the EPA’s specification.” Unless Cal.’s converter box regulation is “taken off the books” it would pose a threat to consumers, manufacturers, the DTV transition and the EPA’s program, he said. The N.Y. State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) has been entrusted with recommending energy specifications for a host of CE products, including converter boxes, under a law enacted last year. The law gives NYSERDA no discretion to decide whether mandatory standards made sense, said Johnson. But the CEA will keep working with the agency, he added.

The CEA has undertaken “major” research to study the energy use of consumer electronics, and it should be finished in the fall. It’s a “shame” Cal. relied on old data to justify its regulations, Johnson said -- but the experience proved there aren’t good data on energy use by consumer electronics. Preliminary findings of the study will be released at the Industry Forum in San Francisco Oct.16, he said. The CEA will release tips for consumers on energy savings with consumer electronics, Johnson said. The information will be made available through media outlets, state govt. agencies and power utilities, he said.