Department of Energy February 26, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products and certain commercial and industrial equipment, including residential water heaters. EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether more stringent amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would save a significant amount of energy. Accordingly, DOE established amended energy conservation standards for several classes of residential water heaters in an April 2010 final rule. Subsequent to the publication of that final rule, a number of utility companies brought forth concerns regarding the amended energy conservation standard levels for electric storage water heaters and the impact of these standards on electric thermal storage programs that utility companies administer to manage peak load. In this document, DOE proposes to establish a waiver process that will mitigate the concerns of utility companies regarding the implementation of the April 2010 standard levels by allowing for the manufacture of certain large-volume electric storage water heaters provided that they meet a set of conditions discussed in this proposed rule. The document also announces a public meeting to receive comment on the proposed waiver process and criteria for obtaining a waiver.