3 Aug 2012
DOE Meeting to Consider Amended Energy Conservation Standards for Certain Motors
The Department of Energy recently announced that it will hold a public meeting on 21 August and will accept written comments by 7 September on the equipment classes the agency plans to analyse for the purpose of amending the current minimum energy conservation standards for certain commercial and industrial electric motors; the analytical framework, models and tools that the agency plans to use to evaluate standards for this type of equipment; the results of preliminary analyses performed by the agency for this equipment; and the potential energy conservation standard levels derived from these analyses that the DOE may consider for this equipment.
Before amending the energy conservation standard for certain commercial and industrial electric motors, the DOE must first solicit comments on a proposed standard. In doing so, the standard must generally be designed to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified and result in significant conservation of energy. To determine whether a proposed standard is economically justified, the DOE must determine whether the benefits of the standard exceed its burdens to the greatest extent practicable, weighing the following seven factors: (1) the economic impact of the standard on manufacturers and customers of equipment subject to the standard; (2) the savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average life of the covered equipment in the type (or class) compared to any increase in the price, initial charges or maintenance expenses for the covered equipment that are likely to result from the imposition of the standard; (3) the total projected amount of energy savings likely to result directly from the imposition of the standard; (4) any lessening of the utility or the performance of the covered equipment likely to result from the imposition of the standard; (5) the impact of any lessening of competition that is likely to result from the imposition of the standard; (6) the need for national energy conservation; and (7) other factors the DOE considers relevant.
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