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The Department of Energy (DOE) is ramping up its ability to enforce energy efficiency standards by streamlining the multitude of regulations and creating stricter protocols. DOE, in partnership with the Obama Administration, has instituted three new steps to increase their power to begin their more concerted effort.
DOE first created a new enforcement team, comprised of lawyers with backgrounds in regulatory litigation. This team also plans to institute compliance review of certification reports for covered consumer products. The enforcement team will then review the information and if a company does not adhere to DOE’s criteria for energy efficiency standards, the team will initiate action against the company under the Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975, according to an Oct. 13 press release.
“For the sake of our environment and our economy, it’s critical that we enforce our energy efficiency regulations,” said Scott Blake Harris, General Counsel of the Department. “Strong enforcement of the rules will encourage compliance and keep manufacturers who break the law from having a competitive advantage over manufacturers who play by the rules.”
Only created earlier this year, the team has already targeted both an air conditioning manufacturer and a freezer company for review. Thirdly, the DOE has also developed additional guidelines for enforcement of these regulations.
Operating with more vigor under the new administration, the DOE has already initiated new appliance standards for energy efficiency in such products. These new regulations will prevent nearly 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, DOE says.
The new direction of the DOE also targets another form of conservation — financial. The release also states that these steps taken by the DOE will save an estimated $250-300 billion over the next 30 years.
