CEC Chairman Draws Critics for Lobbying Washington On TV Energy Limits

CEC spokesman Adam Gottlieb said he “can’t speak to” industry criticism of lobbying by an appointed government official. Douglas’s letter was addressed to Phil Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Environment, Water and Energy Committee, and John McCoy, chairman of the House Technology, Communications and Energy Committee. She said the CEC “stands ready to share with other states the knowledge and experience gained during the rigorous and thorough rulemaking process undertaken to adopt California’s television efficiency standards.” Washington, New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Maryland are considering bills seeking to adopt California-type energy standards for TVs.

Although it may not be illegal for Douglas to “lobby” lawmakers in other states, “I don’t know that it’s appropriate” that the CEC should do that, said an executive of a TV manufacturer. “The reality is that legislators and regulators talk to each other and share ideas,” the executive said. But “putting a letter on the record is a little bit overboard,” he said. It would be “premature” to say “whether or not the lobbying is appropriate,” said Christopher McLean, executive director of the CE Retailers Coalition. “I am not surprised they are looking for validation of what we thought was not a very well grounded regulation,” he said. “You could see why they would be inclined to try to push their vision in other states because if they stay as an outlier they'll kind of validate our position."

The CEC hasn’t yet submitted the regulations, adopted by the commission Nov. 18, for Office of Administrative Law (OAL) review, Gottlieb said. CEC staff is working to “complete the rulemaking package” for OAL, he said. He said he couldn’t give a time frame for forwarding the regulations to OAL. In her letter to lawmakers, Douglas seemed confident that it would pass OAL muster. “Under California law, OAL’s review is narrow in scope and is limited to the adopting agency’s record,” she said. OAL has 30 days from the receipt of the regulations to review and approve them, she said. It’s encouraging that other states are seeking to follow California’s lead in setting “groundbreaking” TV energy regulations, said Gottlieb. “Energy efficiency is part of the way that we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and our carbon footprint,” he said.

"States have overwhelmingly rejected the CEC’s regulations for consumer electronics,” said Douglas Johnson, CEA senior director of technology policy. “This is not a surprise given that the CEC’s record on electronics has been full of problems and missteps.” CERC’s McLean said he wasn’t surprised by bills in five states seeking to emulate California’s TV regulations. But they would lead to a mishmash of rules because “even similar legislation is going to end up being different from state to state,” he said. “An issue of this magnitude and seriousness and this level of technical complexity is best approached through a method that takes interstate commerce into account,” McLean said. CERC is “very disappointed in the science and engineering” behind California’s regulation, he said.

The CEC’s letter to Washington legislators helps to “set the record straight” as CEA and its members “continue to mischaracterize the status of the California rules,” said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The regulations will become final this year “after the few remaining purely procedural approvals are received,” he said. The NRDC is pleased to see the CEC explaining the status of its TV regulations to Washington lawmakers, he said. As states like Washington, Massachusetts, Maryland are “wisely pursuing” minimum TV efficiency standards similar to California’s, CEA and its members continue to oppose “these readily achievable standards,” Horowitz said.