A Review of the 2011 and 2013 Digital Television Energy Efficiency Regulations Developed and Adopted by the California Energy Commission

Dawn Eash and Paul Wazzan review digital television energy efficiency regulations developed and adopted by the California Energy Commission (CEC) in 2009.

In 2009, the CEC adopted standards for power consumption of televisions. The California Public Resources Code (CPRC) requires that proposed regulations must “not result in any added total costs to the consumer over the designed life of the appliances.” To comply, the CEC issued a report alleging consumers would save $8.1 billion from reduced energy consumption. We find that the CEC study is critically flawed and that contrary to their conclusions, California consumers are likely to be economically harmed by the regulations. Inasmuch as the regulations took effect in 2011 and are cited as a model for the nation, our results have important legal, economic, policy and regulatory implications for California and the nation.

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