California Adopts Energy Standards for Computers and Monitors

Yesterday, after a multi-year process, the California Energy Commission adopted energy efficiency standards for computers and monitors with support from industry, environmentalists, consumer groups and utilities. These are the first mandatory standards in the nation that could save consumers an estimated $373 million annually.

"It's common sense that electronic equipment ought to consume a minimal amount of energy when it is not being used," said Commissioner Andrew McAllister, who is the Energy Commission's lead on energy efficiency. "Improved efficiency unlocks millions in utility bill savings for consumers and lightens the load on our electricity system. California's standards for computers and monitors are estimated to save enough energy to power about 350,000 average California homes for one year. The state, environmentalists, industry and consumer advocates were able to come together to find common ground and create a win-win policy."

In California, computers and computer monitors use an estimated 5,610 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, which is up to 3 percent of residential electricity use and 7 percent of commercial use. The standards for computers focus on achieving significant efficiency improvements when computers are on, but not being used, wasting energy and money. The estimated energy savings from the computer and monitor standards is equivalent to the electricity use of all homes in San Francisco and San Luis Obispo counties in 2015, equivalent to nearly 350,000 homes.

The computer standards set a baseline energy use target and rely on a calculation to place a computer into categories, based on the additional technology added to the unit. The targets center on the performance in idle, sleep and off modes and do not set a limit for active mode. This will encourage more efficient power management of computers when they are not being used.

The Energy Commission estimates the standards for desktop computers will add about $10 to the cost of a computer when they first take effect but save consumers more than $40 in electricity bills over five years. These standards become more stringent over time to drive improvements in desktops over multiple design cycles. For desktop computers, the first-tier standards would take effect January 1, 2019, while the second-tier would take effect July 1, 2021.

According to a written statement from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC): “The standards are long overdue. Dozens of other products are subject to state or federal efficiency standards. But there have been are no standards for computers or monitors, even though they represent one of the largest energy uses in the country. The European Union, China, and Australia have established standards for computers, but not the United States.

“The new rules are proposed to go into effect between one to two years after adoption, depending on the type of computer, and will then apply to virtually all computers and monitors sold in California, whether used in homes, businesses or schools, with the exception of computers assembled from parts by the user and a few niche computer types like industrial process controllers.

“The standards will require desktops to reduce power draw by half when idle and establish more modest improvements for notebooks, which are already more efficient because they are designed to economize battery power. But there has been little incentive for computer makers to optimize the energy efficiency of desktops, which operate plugged in all the time. Manufacturers, after all, don’t pay the electric bill, users do,” the NRDC statement concluded.

The majority of notebook computers are already energy efficient and the standards will require improvements to the worst performers. For small-scale servers and workstations, the standards require a more efficient power supply and energy efficient Ethernet.

There are more than 25 million computer monitors installed in homes and businesses in California. The Energy Commission standard establishes an amount of power a monitor or display can consume when on, and when in sleep or off modes. The standard will encourage the use of higher efficiency LED backlights and screen technologies.