The Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreements Act (INCAAA or S.3925)

The Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreements Act (INCAAA or S.3925) was introduced by Senator Bingaman on September 29, 2010 and cosponsored by Senators Lugar, Klobuchar, Kerry, Bayh, Cardin, Johnson, Warner, Whitehouse, Feingold, and Merkley. The bill would enact new, cost-effective energy-efficiency standards for several types of home appliances, certain lighting products and other equipment.  Each included standard is based on a consensus recommendation submitted to Congress.   For the 18 months prior to introduction, manufacturers of the affected products negotiated the bill’s specific standards and related provisions with energy-efficiency, consumer and environmental organizations.

Background

Congress enacted and Presidents Reagan, George Bush and George W. Bush signed into law various consensus-based appliance, lighting and equipment standards on five occasions (1988, 1989, 1992, 2005 and 2007).  These national standards have been a bi-partisan energy policy success for the Nation, providing large financial savings for consumers (more than $300 billion), improved energy security and reduced energy-sector emissions.  They have also supplanted a patchwork of sometimes inconsistent state regulations with national standards, providing manufacturers and sellers a more rational business environment. INCAAA continues this long-standing and successful tradition of consensus-based Congressional standards.

INCAAA’s Benefits

INCAAA will deliver important benefits for consumers, manufacturers and the Nation.  Specifically, it will:

• Save about 1.2 quadrillion Btu (“quads”) annually by 2030 (enough to meet the total energy needs of about 6.5 million American households)
• Put more than $50 billion in savings in consumers’ pockets (net present value savings expressed in 2010$).*
• Provide regulatory certainty for affected manufacturers, enabling job-creating investments to proceed.
• Supplant potentially inconsistent state requirements with a national standards.

Affected products

INCAAA establishes new standards for fourteen product categories.  In some cases, INCAAA updates existing national standards and in others it establishes a first-time national standard.

• Residential appliances – refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, dishwashers and room air conditioners;
• Residential heating and cooling equipment – furnaces, central air conditioners and heat pumps;
• Pole-mounted outdoor lighting fixtures (e.g. street and parking lot fixtures);
• Residential portable lighting fixtures (e.g. floor and table lamps); and,
• Drinking water dispensers, hot food holding cabinets and portable electric spas.

Supporters

Each of the trade associations representing the affected products and prominent national energy-efficiency, consumer and environmental organizations support INCAAA.  Supporters include:

• American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
• Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute
• Alliance to Save Energy
• American Gas Association
• American Lighting Association
• Appliance Standards Awareness Project
• Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
• Association of Pool and Spa Professionals
• California Energy Commission
• Climate Solutions
• Consumer Federation of America
• International Bottled Water Association
• National Consumer Law Center
• National Electrical Manufacturers Association
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships
• Northwest Energy Coalition
• Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
• Northwest Energy Efficiency Council
• Northwest Power and Conservation Council
• Security Industry Association
• Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

For More Information

Contact Brad Penney, Alliance to Save Energy at 202-530-4348 or Suzanne Watson, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, 202-507-4006.

*Energy and economic estimates developed by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.