Talks End for Set-Top Energy Efficiency Development That Caused DOE to Pause Rulemaking
Negotiations for energy-saving commitments by cable companies for set-top boxes ended, advocates for energy efficiency who had sought rules and the cable and consumer electronics industries that had opposed them told us. They said talks ended last Friday with CEA and NCTA on one side and groups including the Appliance Standards Awareness Project and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on the other. The continuing talks had prompted the Department of Energy (DOE) to delay issuing a rulemaking on such standards until at least Oct. 1 (CED July 6 p2). The notice still has not been issued.
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A deal would have averted a rulemaking. A tentative voluntary agreement was worked out in May involving NCTA, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the Appliance Standards Awareness Project and NRDC (http://xrl.us/bnhgkx). The pact used an initiative already under way by CableLabs and the six largest U.S. cable operators, where Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable are now deploying set-tops capable of “light sleep” that saves some energy when the devices are not in use and in 2014 would begin testing in the field “deep-sleep” devices that consume 5 or fewer watts when not in use. Since the tentative deal was discussed with DOE, no lobbying has occurred on the subject at the agency, its disclosure records show. An agency spokeswoman had no comment.
Set-top box makers and the cable, DBS and telco-TV industries “are disappointed” that ACEEE, NRDC and others “walked away from our collective discussions about improving energy efficiency,” CEA and NCTA said in a joint written statement Thursday. The talks had “been progressing earnestly and productively for many months in developing a” deal “that would have covered millions of devices,” the associations said. “By working together, we had outlined a comprehensive, voluntary and accountable energy savings program that would result in even more savings, and at earlier dates, than originally anticipated” by DOE, the associations said. “This proposed program would have accommodated the complex provider networks with which set-top boxes are integrated and would have preserved the path for rapid innovation that consumers desire."
After almost six months of “extensive discussions, large gaps remained between the two sides on several issues,” NRDC Senior Scientist Noah Horowitz said. “As there was no clear path towards bridging these gaps, the negotiations have been terminated.” The sides couldn’t “reach an agreement that would deliver the desired level of savings with sufficient certainty,” he said. Scrutiny of set-tops’ energy use had led industry to “renew” its focus on such energy use, Horowitz said. That’s “critically important” as set-tops in U.S. households use about $3 billion of electricity annually when not in use, he said. “Whether it’s through voluntary measures or mandatory standards, we need to find a way to do better."
Pay-TV and CE efforts to save energy continue, industry executives said. Those industries “will continue to work together -- despite the advocates’ withdrawal from our discussions -- to deliver both substantial energy savings and innovative services,” CEA and NCTA said.