The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued final rules to establish energy conservation standards for battery chargers. The new standards go into effect on June 13, 2018.
DOE analyzed the potential impact of the standards and concluded that the benefits (energy savings, consumer savings, and emission reductions) outweigh the disadvantages (additional costs for manufacturers, increased average life-cycle cost for certain products). The Final Rule states:
“DOE has concluded that the standards in this final rule represent the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in significant conservation of energy.”
Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, DOE is required to create energy conversation standards for a number of consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment. As part of this responsibility, DOE published a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish energy conservation standards for battery chargers in March 2012. Then in response to stakeholder comments, DOE revised its approach and issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR) in September 2015. Now, after considering all the stakeholder comments responding to the SNOPR, DOE is adopting the proposed energy conservation standards for battery chargers.
Read the final rule at the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/06/13/2016-12835/energy-conservation-program-energy-conservation-standards-for-battery-chargers#h-9.
