A new research report from ACEEE has been released, investigating opportunities for states to take initiative in advancing appliances standards to save energy and water.
The report, States Go First: How States Can Save Consumers Money, Reduce Energy and Water Waste, and Protect the Environment with New Appliance Standards, provides recommendations for state standards for 21 products and state-by-state estimates of potential savings.
According to results from the report, implementing state standards for just faucets alone could present total value savings of $34.5 billion.
The report also investigates how new appliance standards that states can adopt in the near term have the potential to save consumers and businesses billions of dollars while conserving energy and water resources. States like California have potential savings of 49.5 billion gallons if they were to enact reduced water consumption standards.
Appliance standards boost local economies since consumers and businesses spend most of the economic savings on other goods and services. The energy and water savings from standards can improve electric system reliability and defer or reduce the need for new energy and water infrastructure, which lowers utility rates for consumers.
At least 18 states have enacted appliance standards at various times. These state standards have not only benefited the residents of those states but have also helped spur national standards.
The report recommends 21 appliance standards states can adopt. The savings figures take into account both utility bill savings and estimated impacts on product costs for items sold between 2020 and 2035. Combined, the recommended standards have the potential to provide $113 billion in net present value savings for consumers and businesses if enough states adopted the 21 recommended standards to cause only compliant products to be sold nationally.
To download the report, visit the ACEEE website here.
