The federal government's Energy Star program is in jeopardy.
Almost 90% of Americans recognize the blue Energy Star logo, which the Environmental Protection Agency awards to the most energy-efficient appliances. The EPA estimates the Energy Star program has saved Americans over $500 billion in energy costs since it was established in 1992. That's why supporters are defending Energy Star against Trump administration plans to privatize or eliminate it.
"It's like sticking a vacuum into the wallets of American families and businesses and sucking cash out for no reason," says Jeremy Symons of the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit group of former EPA employees. Symons says he once worked on the Energy Star program. Now, he's a frequent critic of the Trump administration's environment and energy policies.
At a May congressional hearing, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin questioned his own agency's calculations for how much money the Energy Star program has saved consumers.
"I would happily, eagerly find out from inside of the agency how they had previously calculated that figure, because I anticipate that they're taking credit for a heck of a lot more than they should," Zeldin told lawmakers.
NPR asked the EPA if Zeldin has investigated the issue since then. "It is unclear what the economic activity generated by the Energy Star program is versus what the economic activity would be without this program," Brigit Hirsch, EPA press secretary, wrote in an email. "As this program does not preclude the purchase or sales of any product this program is essentially a government-sponsored advertising regime."
While the economic benefits appear unclear to Administrator Zeldin, the EPA's own staff backed up its savings calculations with five pages of technical notes about how the calculations were made.
Ending or privatizing Energy Star
Energy Star was created in 1992. The EPA and Energy Department co-manage it, with Energy developing efficiency testing procedures. At this point, one way to kill the program would be to choke off its funding.
The President's budget zeroed out Energy Star funding at EPA. But the Senate Appropriations committee voted to restore money for the agency. The question now is whether the rest of Congress votes to keep the funding — or backs the White House's efforts to terminate Energy Star.
Calls for eliminating or privatizing Energy Star have come mostly from libertarian and conservative groups, such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation.
"I think it's very valuable for consumers to see what energy requirements the appliances they buy are going to have, but I don't think it's necessarily a government function to provide that information," says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment. "If the federal government didn't provide it, there would be a gap in the market, and other companies would come and offer that service."
At the May congressional hearing, Zeldin also expressed support for privatizing Energy Star.
"This program is an example of one that can be run outside of the government," he told lawmakers, "And I've actually had multiple entities reach out to EPA over the course of the last few weeks, because they want to take over Energy Star."
The EPA has not revealed who it's talking with about privatizing Energy Star. Hirsch, the agency spokesperson, declined an interview request and wrote in an email, "We have nothing more to share at this time."
One option for turning Energy Star into a business would be to charge companies to participate. Currently, the government pays those costs.
"Charging for participation would be an interesting and creative solution," says Sapna Gheewala Dowla, associate vice president of policy and research at the Alliance to Save Energy. But she says privatizing Energy Star and charging a fee could create "additional barriers for small manufacturers, for community-based builders, or potentially even public sector organizations that do rely on the program but operate on tight margins."
The alliance has argued that Energy Star's budget should be doubled to at least $80 million a year, to save even more energy and money. Now, the group is among those arguing to save the program.
"We would love Energy Star to stay at EPA, stay fully funded and stay fully staffed," Gheewala Dowla says. Her organization and the U.S. Green Building Council organized a letter of support for Energy Star that more than 1,000 companies and organizations signed.
Real estate industry relies on Energy Star
Eliminating or privatizing Energy Star has some in the real estate industry concerned.
"To your everyday consumer, Energy Star is typically thought of as the little blue label on your washing machine. To the commercial real estate industry, it is much more," says Leia de Guzman, co-founder of the real estate tech company Cambio.
Energy Star includes a program called Portfolio Manager that helps building owners track energy and water consumption. That information is then used to comply with local conservation regulations.
"If there were to be any diminution or dismantling of Energy Star, what we can't do is lose the underlying data," says Matt Ellis, CEO of a real estate technology firm Measurabl. That's why his company and others are offering services that collect and store that information, in case Energy Star goes away.
In July the Senate Appropriations Committee approved continued funding for the program — $36 million. Now the rest of Congress likely will decide whether Energy Star will continue to be funded in coming months.
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