EPAct Legislation - The United States Experience of Minimum Efficiency Standards for Induction Motors

Abstract

Minimum energy efficiency standards for appliances have had a relatively long history in the United States. After the oil shocks of the early 1970s, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), setting energy conservation targets for residential appliances. This legislation was strengthened by amendments to EPCA in 1978, which directed the Department of Energy (DOE or Department) to prescribe minimum efficiency standards for certain household appliances. The statute provided that within five years of prescribing an appliance efficiency standard, the Department had to determine whether the standard should be amended. The statute required that each proposed standard’s maximum efficiency level must be “technologically feasible and economically justified.” The statute also allowed states to set their own standards if they had a “significant interest” in doing so. Additionally, EPCA stipulated that DOE establish test procedures to be used in evaluating compliance with efficiency standards and in the labeling program administered by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.