CTA Hails EPA for ‘Rescinding’ Energy Star TV Test Changes Industry Had Opposed
CTA hailed the EPA for “rescinding” the Energy Star TV testing changes it imposed in May, Doug Johnson, vice president-technology policy, said in a Thursday statement. EPA rescinded the changes as part of the launch of the latest revision in the Energy Star TV specification, the agency confirmed.
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CTA had estimated more than half the TVs sold in the U.S. would be “negatively impacted” by the testing changes that EPA demanded of Energy Star certification bodies and urged the agency in a July 27 letter to “immediately withdraw” those changes (see 1608030019). "We welcome EPA's decision to rescind its recent guidance document” that would have “abruptly changed” the Energy Star test procedure, “significantly impacting” the market for Energy Star-certified TVs, Johnson said. CTA “had been very concerned about the legal and stakeholder process issues raised by the suddenly proposed changes,” he said.
The consumer tech industry is “a strong supporter” of Energy Star, Johnson said. But to “continue building” on the program’s success, “the industry and EPA's partnership must embrace both a transparent and participatory process, involving all affected stakeholders in any decision that could change product specification requirements,” he said. Among its other objections, CTA argued the testing changes were in violation of Energy Policy and Conservation Act requirements that changes in Energy Star testing criteria “be subject to the opportunity for public comment, reasonable prior notice, and appropriate lead-in times.”
In recent months, "it has come to EPA’s attention that some televisions are not delivering on their promised energy savings," Katharine Kaplan, the agency's Energy Star manager for CE products, emailed us Thursday. "This is attributable in part to the automatic disabling of energy savings features without the knowledge of consumers," Kaplan said. "EPA has also been made aware of special features in select televisions that temporarily reduce screen luminance in response to frequent scene changes or motion in video content, like the content used to test television energy use around the world."
In "light of" these findings, EPA "paused certification" for Energy Star TVs with those screen-dimming features enabled while it "explored next steps required" to be sure Energy Star TVs "are the best in energy efficiency," Kaplan said. "With additional data now available, EPA has determined that the best path forward is to launch the revision of the ENERGY STAR television specification," and it did so Aug. 5, she said. With the launch that day of the Version 8.0 specification revision, "EPA expressed its intention to consider the persistence of energy saving features and the performance of televisions in numerous modes of operation under the forthcoming ENERGY STAR specification," she said. Until the Version 8.0 revision is complete, certification of TVs "will continue consistent" with the Version 7.0 spec, EPA said in a cover letter summarizing the move to Version 8.0.
"Vital to ensuring reliable and fair testing of televisions is a new test procedure that includes test content that mirrors today’s real life content," Kaplan said. "EPA will support the U.S. Department of Energy’s development of this new test method and reference it in the ENERGY STAR televisions specification when it is complete."