Industry and Government to work towards harmonized North American Energy Efficiency Regulations

Energy efficiency of products, manufacturing processes and homes is increasing. In part propelled by the consciousness of consumers resulting in market demand, new technologies as well as by regulation and finally in response to energy prices.

When these are ranked it would appear that going forward the price signal will be the key driver. But what about the enablers of greater energy efficiency? For example you can turn down the thermostat and give up comfort, or you can install a high efficiency furnace, programmable thermostat and insulate the house. In other words you can invest in technology based solutions without sacrificing comfort.

The next question is what role is reserved for energy efficiency regulations? If you talk to the regulators, their message is clear, without regulation we cannot achieve energy efficiency. The industry often finds them on the defensive advocating against a particular proposed regulation. Yet our members are in the forefront of innovation, investing in the design and development of energy efficient products and solutions.

The disconnect is two-fold, first we need to do a better job of familiarizing regulators with the advances being made in the energy efficiency of products, on the market or under development, and second we need to find a way of advocating more effectively for a harmonized approach to energy efficiency performance regulations on a North American basis. With a harmonized approach, the first step is to ask the following questions: what is required, when is it required, and what is the mechanism for compliance verification.

One such example is the proposed treatment of standby power on electronic products. There are fixed limits that will come into effect with no regard for differentiating between functionality of a device that requires power, and the useless waste of energy. Our recommendation has been to incorporate standby power into the overall energy consumption calculations for electronic products. This argument has already been accepted for major appliances. The second example is the strictly Canadian requirement for third party conformity testing and verification of energy efficiency performance of electronic power supplies.

Manufacturers develop and market products for the North American Market, therefore regulation must respect this fact. However well intentioned a uniquely Canadian requirement, let alone a provincial initiative in this regard may be, it will inevitable add cost to Canadian consumers and seldom accomplish sufficient offsetting benefit, if any, to warrant the added cost.

We have seen enormous progress in all product areas – lighting, appliances, transformers, motors and drives, large screen televisions, power supplies, and the list goes on.

The next big opportunity lies in the Smart Grid and bringing consumers into the fold. Management of peak demand, distributed generation, and the inclusion of energy storage devices will take us to the next level. For example, refrigerators today consume 50% of energy of the products made fifteen years ago. We may be approaching the limit of further improvements of appliance energy performance. However, leading manufacturers have committed to rapid development of Smart Grid enabled appliances which will reduce energy demand in the critical peak demand period, and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by allowing us to meet a greater proportion of the total electricity demand from clean power generation.

In matters of energy efficiency, industry needs to work closely with regulators and other stakeholders, and regulators need to acknowledge the leadership demonstrated by manufacturers that produce energy efficient products.