State targets ‘vampire’ energy use
Portable devices must use more efficient chargers beginning in 2013
California’s cellphones, tablet computers, power tools and hundreds of other portable electronic devices will be required to have energy-stingy battery chargers beginning next year.
The California Energy Commission on a 3-0 vote Thursday approved first-inthe-nation efficiency standards targeting about 170 million so-called vampire charging systems that waste as much as 60% of the electricity they suck from outlets.
The regulations generated strong opposition from appliance and consumer products makers. But they are expected to save enough electricity to power 350,000 homes, equivalent to a city the size of Bakersfield. The rules also are projected to shave an estimated $306 million a year off residential and commercial electricity bills.
“This means that we can have the devices that we like in our lives and that make our lives easier,” Commissioner Karen Douglas said. “But by taking a few relatively simple steps to improve battery chargers, we can save so much electricity, take care of the environment and save ratepayers money.”
Many currently available battery chargers already comply with the new California standards, the Energy Commission said. Most of the new technology is off the shelf and inexpensive, Douglas said.
For example, consumers might pay an additional 40 cents for an electric toothbrush with an efficient battery charger, but would save $1.19 in electricity costs over
the lifetime of the product, according to a commission staff report. An upgraded battery charger would boost the price of a laptop computer by 50 cents but would save $19 in power costs.
The new rules would take effect on Feb. 1, 2013, for chargers used with consumer goods, such as phones and power tools; on Jan. 1, 2014, for industrial chargers, such as forklifts; and on Jan. 1, 2017, for commercial equipment chargers, including walkie-talkies for emergency personnel and portable bar-code scanners.
The standards are part of a more than three-decade drive in California to make appliances and buildings more efficient to cut energy use, reduce pollution and save money. California’s official energy policy gives efficiency the highest priority because it’s far cheaper than developing solar, wind and other renewable power or construction of natural-gasfired power plants.
The effort began with air conditioners in 1977, 13 years ahead of the U.S. government. Since then, state regulations have forced appliance and electronics makers to develop electricity-sipping refrigerators, lighting and, most recently, bigscreen, flat-panel television sets in 2009.
The Energy Commission estimates that those initiatives have saved ratepayers about $36 billion. They’ve also helped California to keep its per-capita energy consumption flat over the last 30 years, while the rest of the country’s power demand grew 50%.
The explosion of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices motivated state regulators to take aim at the millions of power cords feeding electricity to those devices.
The ubiquitous chargers — the average California home has 11 of them — have been dubbed “vampires” by energy experts. That’s because they continuously draw small amounts of power from the grid when they’re plugged into the wall, even if no device is connected to the charger or the device is attached but switched off.
So-called standby power consumption, which includes battery chargers, accounts for about 10% of residential electricity use nationally and 13% in California, said Allan Meier, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
California will soon be looking to go after even more wasteful vampires, such as cable television boxes, digital video recorders and video game consoles, Energy Commission spokesman Adam Gottlieb said.
According to the Energy Commission, battery chargers consume an estimated 8,000 gigawatt hours per year of electricity, roughly equivalent to 152 days of production at the massive San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Diego County.
Collectively, battery chargers in California can store only about 40% of the electricity they draw from the grid over a year’s time. The balance is lost in the form of excess heat that dissipates once the battery is fully charged, commission staff wrote in a report issued in October.
“The difference of 5,100 GWH per year represents a significant potential for energy savings,” commission scientists said.
Trade groups for manufacturers of battery operated consumer products say they agree with the commission’s goal of making electronics more efficient. But they question the commission’s energy and cost-saving estimates and challenge the need for a new state standard.
California, they contend, should drop its planned regulations and instead wait for the U.S. Department of Energy, which is in the early stages of setting national standards for battery chargers.
“This whole process is flawed,” said Kevin Messner, vice president for governmental relations of the Assn. of Home Appliance Manufacturers in Washington.
“In already harsh economic times, manufacturers will ... redesign [their products] for the California standards” and they might have “to do it all again … when the Department of Energy’s become effective,” Messner said.
State officials said there’s nothing surprising about industry complaints. Manufacturers have griped about virtually every California efficiency mandate, but always managed to meet the new requirements.
Meanwhile, California has gotten accustomed to leading the nation, with the federal government adopting standards for appliances, lighting and electronic devices set by the Golden State years earlier.
“In a sense, the California tail has wagged the national dog,” said Meier, the Lawrence-berkeley Lab scientist. “The California market is so large that most manufacturers are … compliant with the California standards.”