State Standards

State Standards

States have historically led the nation in the development of new appliance standards. A typical progression begins with a state, usually California, setting an efficiency standard for a particular product. Other states then adopt identical or similar standards. Once several states have adopted standards, manufacturers of the affected products will often negotiate with the states and efficiency advocacy groups in order to develop a consensus recommendation for a national standard. In general, manufacturers, distributors and retailers prefer national standards over a state-by-state patchwork. Consensus recommendations for new standards have formed the basis for nearly all initial national standards.  

By setting appliance efficiency standards, states can decrease energy use, save consumers and businesses money, and reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Usually new state standards cover products for which there are no existing national standards because, with limited exceptions, national standards preempt state standards. We provide the information below to assist state energy offices, legislators, and policy advocates.

State Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards

The following table includes only those efficiency standards that states are responsible for enforcing. Many standards adopted by states since 2001 have subsequently been enacted federally and are now the responsibility of the federal government. They are not included in this table. 

The date indicated in the table is the year of adoption (not the effective year).