Appliance Energy Standards Embargo Lifted

[Lisa Marina Brooks <lbrooks@essential.org>]

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        CONTACT: Ed Osann
  October 2, 1996                              202-429-8873
  
  
  CONGRESSIONAL EMBARGO ON APPLIANCE ENERGY STANDARDS IS LIFTED
  
  At 12 midnight on Monday night, the end of the government's
  Fiscal Year 1996 brought to a close one of the anti-regulatory
  forays characteristic of the 104th Congress -- a Congressionally
  imposed suspension of the Department of Energy's authority to
  issue energy efficiency standards for new appliances and lighting
  equipment.  The omnibus 1997 appropriations bill signed into law
  by President Clinton carries no extension of the year-long
  moratorium on appliance standards that Congress had insisted upon
  in last year's acrimonious budget negotiations.
  
  "At the behest of a handful of manufacturers, Congress stalled a
  small program that has saved American consumers billions of
  dollars," said Steven Nadel, acting executive director of the
  American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).  "This
  short-sighted -- and short-lived -- policy flew in the face of US
  economic, environmental, and security interests, all of which are
  advanced by providing cost-effective opportunities for Americans
  to use energy more efficiently," Nadel said.  "Fortunately, the
  Administration stood firm against any extension of the
  moratorium."
  
  Appliance standards are one of America's most successful
  pollution prevention programs, helping to protect the environment
  while actually saving consumers money.  By 2000, standards
  already in place will have reduced national electricity
  consumption by 3%, offsetting the need for 31 large base-load
  powerplants and cutting the emission of many pollutants
  associated with the generation of electric power.  By doing the
  same job while using less energy, appliances that meet these
  standards are expected to save consumers more than $140 billion
  (1993$) over the period 1990 to 2030.
  
  Appliance efficiency standards are periodically reviewed by DOE
  -- and tightened up when justified -- under the authority of the
  National Appliance Energy Efficiency Act signed into law by
  President Reagan in 1987.  With DOE's authority to set new
  standards now restored, the next round of standards can provide
  an additional net savings to consumers of more than $60 billion
  (1993 $) during the 2000 to 2015 period, offsetting the need for
  48 large base-load powerplants during this time.  These new
  standards can also reduce the projected growth in carbon dioxide
  emissions by 8% in 2015, making an important contribution to US
  efforts to combat global warming.
  
  One of the principal effects of the Congressional moratorium was
  to delay the publication of a new energy efficiency standard for
  refrigerators and freezers.  These standards, which would boost
  the efficiency of the most popular models by nearly 30%, were
  based on currently available technology and were contained in a
  consensus agreement reached two years ago by refrigerator
  manufacturers, environmentalists, state energy agencies, and
  electric utilities. Delaying this new standard is estimated by
  ACEEE to cost US consumers $2 million per day in lost benefits.
  
  "The Department of Energy should move quickly to publish a final
  refrigerator standard, and accelerate action to prepare new
  standards for other products where comparable efficiency gains
  are likely, such as clothes washers, room and central air
  conditioners, fluorescent ballasts, and hot water heaters," Nadel
  said.  "After a year of frustration and delay, the need for
  energy efficiency is just as compelling, and the benefits to
  American consumers just as great, as they were one year ago."
  
  
  The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is an
  independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to
  advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting environmental
  protection and economic development.
  
  	-30-
  
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