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California Passes Ban on Inefficient TVs
Ban to limit sales to only efficient TVs starting in 2011.
Reactions to California TV Ban
California just passed a ban on inefficient TVs starting in 2011. Has government intervention gone too far or is this something our country needs? Here are the two sides:… View this discussion thread.
California just passed a ban on inefficient TVs starting in 2011. Has government intervention gone too far or is this something our country needs? Here are the two sides:… View this discussion thread.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) voted 5-0 to restrict the sale of energy-hogging TVs up to 58 inches.
The new restrictions will limit the sales of TVs in the state to only those that meet energy requirements, starting in 2011. A second, stricter phase of requirements is slated to go into effect in 2013, and could include restrictions on sets larger than 58 inches in size.
The vote by the CEC culminates a battle fought contentiously by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The CEA disputes the CEC’s findings and contends that the CEC’s data is flawed and the energy savings overstated, therefore violating California law by imposing greater costs on consumers.
The CEC says California residents will save an average of $30.24 per TV unit in the first year and a total of $912.1 million per year in avoided electric bills. The CEC says the restrictions will also save the state 615 megawatts of electricity in peak demand reduction, resulting in $615 million saved on building a new power plant, at a cost $1 million per megawatt. It estimates greenhouse gas reductions of 43 percent per million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 3.1 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
After 10 years, the commission estimates the regulations will save $8.1 billion in energy costs and save enough energy to power 864,000 single-family homes.
A study the CEA commissioned by Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems claims that energy-saving technologies such as forced menu functionality that put a TV into a more energy-efficient home viewing mode and auto shutdown are likely to save California a minimum of 440 GWh per year.
“Savings from consumer education could reach 550 GWh per year, and the potential gains through consumer incentive programs could be as high as 560 GWh,” according to the study.
The CEA also claimed that the regulations will have a potentially devastating impact on commerce, costing California more than 4,000 jobs and approximately $46.8 million in tax revenue.
The first tier of proposed energy-efficiency standards, which would go into effect in 2011, would not be as strict as the new Energy Star 4.0 standard recently announced by the EPA, which starts in May 2010. The second tier of California standards, which would go into effect in 2013, would closely follow the Energy Star 4.0 standards of 2010 and not be as strict as Energy Star 5.0, set to go into effect in 2012. Energy Star, however, is a voluntary program and intended to identify more energy-efficient products.
Several representatives from the CEA spoke out against the proposed regulations during an Oct. 13 public hearing that was at times contentious, with a CEC commissioner at one point chiding the trade organization for “seemingly contradictory” statements in saying TVs can meet voluntary Energy Star standards quickly but cannot meet the CEC’s less stringent energy-efficiency levels. The commissioner also chided the CEA for failing, up to that time, to submit proof of its claims to the CEC during the public comment period.
On Nov. 2, the CEA delivered 91 pages of responses to the proposal to the CEC minutes before the deadline for public comment to effectively postpone a vote the Commission had planned on the matter for Nov. 4. The CEC’s Valerie Hall requested more time so the CEC could review the submissions.
The new restrictions will limit the sales of TVs in the state to only those that meet energy requirements, starting in 2011. A second, stricter phase of requirements is slated to go into effect in 2013, and could include restrictions on sets larger than 58 inches in size.
The vote by the CEC culminates a battle fought contentiously by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The CEA disputes the CEC’s findings and contends that the CEC’s data is flawed and the energy savings overstated, therefore violating California law by imposing greater costs on consumers.
The CEC says California residents will save an average of $30.24 per TV unit in the first year and a total of $912.1 million per year in avoided electric bills. The CEC says the restrictions will also save the state 615 megawatts of electricity in peak demand reduction, resulting in $615 million saved on building a new power plant, at a cost $1 million per megawatt. It estimates greenhouse gas reductions of 43 percent per million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 3.1 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
After 10 years, the commission estimates the regulations will save $8.1 billion in energy costs and save enough energy to power 864,000 single-family homes.
A study the CEA commissioned by Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems claims that energy-saving technologies such as forced menu functionality that put a TV into a more energy-efficient home viewing mode and auto shutdown are likely to save California a minimum of 440 GWh per year.
“Savings from consumer education could reach 550 GWh per year, and the potential gains through consumer incentive programs could be as high as 560 GWh,” according to the study.
The CEA also claimed that the regulations will have a potentially devastating impact on commerce, costing California more than 4,000 jobs and approximately $46.8 million in tax revenue.
The first tier of proposed energy-efficiency standards, which would go into effect in 2011, would not be as strict as the new Energy Star 4.0 standard recently announced by the EPA, which starts in May 2010. The second tier of California standards, which would go into effect in 2013, would closely follow the Energy Star 4.0 standards of 2010 and not be as strict as Energy Star 5.0, set to go into effect in 2012. Energy Star, however, is a voluntary program and intended to identify more energy-efficient products.
Several representatives from the CEA spoke out against the proposed regulations during an Oct. 13 public hearing that was at times contentious, with a CEC commissioner at one point chiding the trade organization for “seemingly contradictory” statements in saying TVs can meet voluntary Energy Star standards quickly but cannot meet the CEC’s less stringent energy-efficiency levels. The commissioner also chided the CEA for failing, up to that time, to submit proof of its claims to the CEC during the public comment period.
On Nov. 2, the CEA delivered 91 pages of responses to the proposal to the CEC minutes before the deadline for public comment to effectively postpone a vote the Commission had planned on the matter for Nov. 4. The CEC’s Valerie Hall requested more time so the CEC could review the submissions.
California TV Ban
 | California TV Ban Even Worse Than We Thought The California Energy Commission's ruling treats all TVs the same, regardless of the application. California retailers will suffer. California Passes Ban on Inefficient TVs The California Energy Commission votes 5-0 to approve the nation's first efficiency regulations for TVs up to 58 inches. Stricter standards take effect Jan. 1, 2011. CEA Reacts to California TV Ban "CEA is extremely disappointed in the CEC's decision to regulate TV energy use. Simply put, this is bad policy - dangerous for the California economy, dangerous for technology innovation and dangerous for consumer freedom." Discuss: Your Thoughts on the California TV Ban If you're a California-based CE pro, how will this impact your business? If you're not based in California, do you even care? Battle Continues Over California TV Restrictions CEA claims proposed restrictions would cost California residents money, while the CEC claims the restrictions could save millions. Proposed California TV Ban Omits Big-Screen TVs California Energy Commission, for now, will not propose restricting the sale of big-screen TVs that don't meet energy efficiency standards. Blog: Help Fight California's TV Ban Integrators across the country need to rally to fight a proposed regulation that would ban the sale of big-screen TVs in California. California Could Ban Big TVs in Next 2 Months The new regulations, if passed, would effectively ban the sale of 100 percent of plasmas over 60 inches. California Drafting Strict TV Energy Laws California is drafting legislation that will restrict the sale of certain power-zapping plasmas and LCDs in the state starting in 2011. | |
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Article Topics
News · Product News · Displays · TVs · Legal · Consumer Electronics Association · Displays · California Tv Ban · Tvs ·About the Author
Steven Castle writes the green tech blog at electronichouse.com/green, and is the co-founder of Green Tech Advocates, a green technology information and marketing resource at www.green techadvocates.com.
4 Comments
I say you people in California get rid of these morons. Next they will tell you how much you can eat and how much sex you can have. Oh and one child per couple…wait this is all sounding familiar.
Car makers for years complained about California’s emissions and gas standards but that never stopped them from selling cars in California. Because of California lead the rest of the country has now adopted these standards.
Somebody has to take the lead because the manufactures never will. Manufactures will soon adapt and we will all be better off in the long run.
Instead of investing our valuable time and resources into fighting the inevitable (as goes California so goes the nation) maybe CEDIA and its members should practice what we preach about being “Green”. CEDIA offers classes on how to make our business and installs more green and pushes bogus green initiatives like carbon offsets for our trips to Expo. Now when legislation comes along that has real teeth in it we fight it? That is a hypocritical position for CEDIA to take. This legislation will not even effect the larger 58” and larger TVs that we tend to focus on anyway as an industry. Vizio execs testified that it will not make any type of an impact on their business and I suspect it will not even be an issue when the time comes to comply with the rule years from now.
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As a voter in California - I propose we have a ban on inefficient State Legislators. More money is wasted every time one of these jerks creates a new useless bill.
Here is a novel idea - if people can’t afford the high cost of their power hungry electronics via their utility bill, they could just use them less, or trade in for a smaller one themselves. They don’t need lawmakers telling them how to do it.
What is next, a ban on having a second refrigerator in your garage? Or maybe the CEC should limit the size of the home you can own because that would be too many lightbulbs per person?
-Matt
http://www.controllercodes.com