Washington's SHB 1017 – Equipment Efficiency Standards
SHB 1017 updates Washington’s water efficiency rules for several plumbing products and adds two measures to the state’s package of energy efficiency standards. The bill packs a lot of benefits: By 2018, SHB 1017 will deliver $60 million in utility bill savings to Washington families, businesses, schools and local governments, save enough electricity to power 38,000 Washington homes and cut climate pollution by 285,000 tons – all per year.
Specifically, this bill:
- Targets so-called “vampire” battery chargers that waste up to 60% of the electricity they consume. Small battery chargers for consumer electronic devices, as well as large battery chargers for forklifts and golf carts, will be required to meet efficiency standards already working in California.
- Requires new urinals, showerheads and faucets sold and installed in Washington to use less water. These standards conserve precious water resources and reduce energy used for heating, pumping and treatment. By 2018, we’ll save about 1.9 billion gallons of water a year – roughly a year’s water use in 32,000 Puget Sound-area homes. And the more efficient products cost the same as the older, less-efficient versions.
- Requires one type of common outdoor floodlights – double-ended quartz halogen lamps – to be more energy efficient. Washington would be the first in the nation to adopt this standard.
If enacted, SHB 1017 will become effective in June 2014, allowing retailers and distributors time to ready their inventories for the more-efficient products.
Fact: This bill is necessary. Opponents claim that U.S. Department of Energy standards will preempt the battery charger standards. But DOE is famously behind schedule, and we have no guarantee that it will finalize the standards nor do we know how stringent they will be. By establishing strong efficiency standards for battery chargers, Washington and California will ensure that its residents benefit from cost-effective energy savings and avoid becoming the dumping ground for less-efficient models.
Bottom line: Already, refrigerators, furnaces, exit signs, commercial hot-food cabinets and many more products meet federal or state efficiency standards. SHB 1017 adds the next generation of low-cost, high-benefit measures to Washington’s existing efficiency standards, saving energy, reducing water waste and saving consumers millions of dollars on their utility bills.
Download an info sheet with more details. (PDF 300k)
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About the Environmental Priorities Coalition
Founded in 2003, the Environmental Priorities Coalition is a network of more than 20 leading environmental groups in Washington that believe we can have a strong economy and a clean, healthy and safe environment for ourselves and our children.
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