NATIONAL APPLIANCE EFFICIENCY STANDARDS IN THE USA - COST-EFFECTIVE FEDERAL-REGULATIONS

This paper reviews the status of Federal appliance and equipment effic iency standards in the United States and summarizes the impacts these standards are having on consumers, manufacturers, and the nation. It s hows that standards already adopted are expected to save consumers $13 2 billion net and displace the need for 31 large (500 MW) baseload pow er plants by 2000. Existing standards also will cut carbon dioxide emi ssions in 2000 by about 26 million metric tons, equivalent to about tw o percent of total US emissions or removing around 15 million automobi les from the road. According to analyses by the US Department of Energ y, appliance efficiency standards have not had a negative effect on ap pliance manufacturers. The final section of the paper reviews the stat us of standards rulemakings underway as of early 1996. (C) 1997 Elsevi er Science S.A.