State Standards
States have historically led the nation in developing new appliance standards. Typically a state will set an efficiency standard for a product and then other states adopt identical or similar standards. When several states have adopted standards, manufacturers of the affected products will often negotiate with the states and efficiency advocacy groups 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. 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.
Resources
| If you’d like information about… | Go to… |
| Savings for your state |
Potential savings from 2024 state standards and 2017 States Go First report overview and 2024 update Savings from national standards and White Paper (2017) |
| Current state standards | Status of state efficiency standards |
| Historical state standards | State standards adopted between 2001 and 2020 |
| Setting standards in your state | See the 2024 Model Bill or contact Brian Fadie at bfadie@standardsasap.org |
| Implementation of state standards | Implementation fact sheet and Implementation/Enforcement Toolkit |
| Current state policies and incentives for renewables and efficiency | Link to DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency) |
| Video clips |
Testimony to DC Council Dec 2019. Standards bill starts at 1h 54m 45s. NV Assemblyman Watts presenting appliance standards bill May 2021. VPIRG: Appliance Efficiency Standards Explained – 2 min standards primer. PBS Hot Mess – How a Sticker Kept 3 billion Tons of CO2 Out of the Air - About appliance standards and ENERGY STAR. 2018 Video: advocate and industry testimony in WA beginning at 1h 32mins. |
| Bill passage history |
Adopted in 2023 Hawaii SB 691, Colorado HB 23-1161 Adopted in 2022 New Jersey A5160 / S3324, Washington HB 1619 Adopted in 2021 Maine LD940, Massachusetts S9, Nevada AB383, Oregon HB 2062, Rhode Island S 339 / H 5966 Adopted in 2020 District of Columbia B23-0204 Adopted in 2019 Colorado HB 19-1231, Hawaii HB 556 / SB 1323, Nevada AB54, New York AB 2286, Washington SB 5115 Adopted in 2018 Vermont H 410 Adopted in 2017 Vermont H 411 |
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).