Appliance Efficiency Bill Ready for Senate Floor Action

New Standards would reduce air pollution, water pollution, carbon emissions while saving consumers money

Environment Washington

Olympia, WA – Yesterday, the Washington State Senate Ways & Means Committee passed HB 1444, which would update an existing state standard and add 17 energy efficiency standards for common household and commercial products, reducing energy and water waste. Now the bill is ready for a full Senate floor vote.

“The cleanest form of energy is the energy we don’t use in the first place,” said Environment Washington Fellow, Chris Connolly. “Much of the energy we produce is wasted – using energy more efficiently means less pollution and healthier air, creating a healthier planet and people.”

Most of these standards have already been adopted in other states and the products covered are readily available in Washington State, including commercial kitchen equipment, computers, lawn spray sprinklers, shower heads, and toilets. Without updated standards, more inefficient products will likely be sent to Washington. If adopted in our state, by 2025 the recommended appliance efficiency standards would annually:

• Save enough electricity to power 55,582 homes for a year
• Save enough water to meet the annual water consumption needs of 62,264 average U.S. households
• Prevent 192 tons of smog forming emissions from entering the atmosphere
• Prevent 184 thousand metric tons of CO2 from entering our atmosphere; the equivalent of taking 40,000 cars off the road each year

And as an added bonus, appliance efficiency standards would annually save Washington consumers $138 million by 2025. These numbers would then increase, yielding even larger annual savings by 2035 of up to $315 million.

The Washington State Senate Ways & Means Committee also passed HB 1257, The Clean Buildings for Washington Act, yesterday. This bill would create a nation-leading performance standard for large commercial buildings in order to reduce energy use, as well as unhealthy and unnecessary air pollution. Incentives would be provided for building owners to retrofit their properties to address rapidly rising emissions from buildings. Now the bill is ready for a full Senate floor vote.

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Environment Washington is a statewide, membership-based environmental advocacy organization that works for clean air, clean water and open spaces. www.environmentwashington.org.