Millions of small (less than one horsepower) electric motors are used in American factories, farms, and buildings. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 required the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to consider whether energy conservation standards for certain classes of small motors would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in significant energy savings. DOE published a positive determination for small motors energy conservation standards on July 10, 2006. DOE then initiated the development of energy efficiency test procedures and standards for certain small electric motors.

DOE published the Framework Document for this rulemaking on its website on July 30, 2007. On August 10, 2007, DOE published a notice announcing the availability of the Framework Document and a public meeting to discuss the analytical framework for this rulemaking. The public meeting was held on September 13, 2007. Additional information is available from DOE's small electric motors website.

LBNL's Energy Efficiency Standards (EES) Group is performing analyses on the following four products, for which the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) called for a standards rulemaking:

• Cooking products
• Dehumidifiers
• Dishwashers
• Commercial clothes washers

The Department of Energy (DOE) published a Framework Document describing its plan for the analysis of these four products. The Department held a public meeting on April 27, 2006, on this document and on issues related to establishing standards for these four products. Written comments were accepted through May 11, 2006. See DOE’s Home Appliances public meeting webpage for the workshop presentation.

The DOE websites for the four products are:

• Cooking Products
• Dehumidifiers
• Dishwashers
• Commercial Clothes Washers

LBNL's Energy Efficiency Standards (EES) Group is performing analyses on the following three products, for which the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) called for a standards rulemaking:

• Residential Water Heaters
• Direct Heating Equipment
• Pool Heaters

The Department of Energy (DOE) is developing a Framework Document describing its plan for the analysis of these three products. It will hold a public meeting in late 2006 to present its proposed methodologies for conducting this rulemaking, discuss issues relevant to the rulemaking proceeding, and initiate stakeholder interaction and the data collection process. The availability of the Framework Document and the date of the public meeting will be published in the Federal Register and announced on DOE's appliance standards website.

The current U.S. minimum energy efficiency standard for furnaces and boilers took effect in 1992.  The standard requires that new residential furnaces (heat input rate of less than 225,000 Btu/h) have a minimum annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of 78 percent, hot-water boilers (heat input rate of less than 300,000 Btu/h) a minimum AFUE of 80 percent, and steam boilers a minimum AFUE of 75 percent.  Most new furnaces can be grouped into one of two general classes on the basis of efficiency:  "power combustion" furnaces with AFUEs of 80-82 percent, and "condensing" furnaces with AFUEs of over 90 percent.  Most new hot-water boilers have AFUEs near 80-84 percent and steam boilers have AFUEs near 78 percent.

In November 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) completed an update to these standards and published the final rule for residential furnaces and boilers.  The minimum efficiency requirements that will apply to products manufactured in, or imported to, the U.S on or after November 19, 2015 are:

Product Class and AFUE

• Non-weatherized gas furnaces:  80%
• Weatherized gas furnaces:  81%
• Mobile home gas furnaces:  80%
• Oil-fired furnaces:  82%
• Gas hot-water boilers:  82%
• Oil-fired hot-water boilers:  83%

In January, 2008, the city of New York and the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York filed a lawsuit, and environmental groups filed a separate lawsuit, asking DOE to adopt stricter standards than those in the final rule.

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 required the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to consider standards for distribution transformers.  In October 1997 the Secretary of Energy issued a determination that energy conservation standards for electric distribution transformers would be technologically feasible and economically justified and would result in significant energy savings.

This positive determination was followed by a rulemaking. All rulemaking materials, including updates, are accessible through DOE’s distribution transformers website.

DOE published the final rule for distribution transformer energy conservation standards on October 12, 2007.  DOE determined that energy conservation standards for liquid-immersed and medium-voltage, dry-type distribution transformers will result in significant conservation of energy, are technologically feasible, and are economically justified. The final rule established efficiency standards for these types of distribution transformers manufactured for sale in the United States, or imported to the United States, on or after January 1, 2010.

DOE’s rulemaking had also included low-voltage, dry-type distribution transformers. After the advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANOPR) stage of the rulemaking, however, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) set efficiency standards for low-voltage, dry-type distribution transformers manufactured on or after January 1, 2007. These standards are the same as the Class I Efficiency Levels for distribution transformers specified in the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)’s TP–1–2002.

In December 2007, the state of California and several environmental groups filed lawsuits urging DOE to adopt allegedly more stringent energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers.