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Alliance to Save Energy Praises Senate Committee’s Approval of Bill Strengthening Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards

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Date: Apr 12, 2011

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Washington, D.C., April 12, 2011 – The Alliance to Save Energy today commended the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for approving a bill codifying energy efficiency standards for appliances and other products as negotiated by manufacturers and efficiency advocates.

The Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreements Act of 2011 (INCAAA) would supplant potentially inconsistent state requirements with a national standard that will provide regulatory certainty for affected manufacturers, enabling job-creating investments to proceed. Introduced earlier this year by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), S.398, INCAAA has won the co-sponsorship of 26 other senators.

It would improve standards for HVAC systems, including furnaces, heat pumps and air conditioners, which take advantage of the latest technologies and their potential for energy efficiency. It also would improve standards for many already-covered home appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, dryers and dishwashers, in order to maximize cost-effective efficiency savings. In addition, the bill would create standards for some previously overlooked areas, such as inefficient types of outdoor lighting.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy estimates that INCAAA would:

  • Result in net savings to consumers of more than $43 billion by 2030; and
  • Save nearly 5 trillion gallons of water annually by 2030, roughly the amount needed to meet the current needs of every customer in Los Angeles for 25 years.

Alliance President Kateri Callahan commented, “This important bill will help create jobs, reduce energy bills for consumers and businesses and ratify the appliance standards developed during negotiations among the appliance manufacturing community, efficiency advocates, states and consumer groups. We urge the full Senate to take up the bill quickly, and we look forward to its enactment this year.”