The US Department of Energy says it will “aggressively pursue” any manufacturers whose appliances do not meet energy efficiency standards.

Under federal laws, manufacturers of household appliances are obliged to provide certification that current models meet the DOE’s minimum energy conservation standards.

The DOE had called on manufacturers to provide correct energy use date for 15 different categories of appliance by the end of last week.
Yesterday, the DOE announced that it had received over 600,000 certifications from 160 different manufacturers.

The reports allow the DOE to check that appliances are delivering the energy performance claimed by manufacturers.

“We will aggressively pursue all manufacturers who have failed to comply with these certification requirements or whose products violate the country’s energy efficiency standards,” says the DOE’s General Counsel Scott Blake Harris.

Last year, the DOE announced that it planned to beef up the enforcement of its energy efficiency standards for household appliances. One of the Department’s first actions was to remove the ENERGY STAR label from some LG fridge-freezers, which it claimed did not comply with test procedures.

For further information:
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=285
www.energy.gov
www.energystar.gov/

Related stories:
US Department of Energy to set up energy efficiency enforcement team (14-Oct 2009)