On November 7, the House’s Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing to discuss how to reform the Energy Star Program. APGA and the Direct Use Task Group (DUTG) wanted to make sure our voice was heard during this discussion. On behalf of APGA and the DUTG, we submitted comments that outline the areas where the Energy Star Program could be improved. A copy of our letter can be found on APGA’s correspondence webpage. The areas highlighted include:On November 7, the House’s Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing to discuss how to reform the Energy Star Program. APGA and the Direct Use Task Group (DUTG) wanted to make sure our voice was heard during this discussion. On behalf of APGA and the DUTG, we submitted comments that outline the areas where the Energy Star Program could be improved. A copy of our letter can be found on APGA’s correspondence webpage.
The areas highlighted include:
1. Making the Energy Star Program available to all equipment types and sizes;
2. Keeping the focus of the program on energy and not on environmental policy as there are other more relevant areas to address environmental policy;
3. Making sure the public and stakeholders have the ability to participate in an open and fair process:
4. Expanding the use of primary energy and including it on the appliance’s label;
5. Safeguarding to protect the program from being influenced by outside ideology, i.e., picking winners and losers.
During the hearing, the subcommittee heard from five panelists representing the major manufacturing groups as well as the Alliance to Save Energy. The overarching theme is that the Energy Star Program is needed, but the program could be improved. All agreed that stakeholder involvement is necessary; however, the manufacturing groups all have different views on how to amend the volunteer program. This hearing is the first step in reviewing and reforming the popular Energy Star Program.
For questions on this article, please contact Dan Lapato of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
dlapato@apga.org.