December 5, 2011 

Office of the General Counsel 

Department of Energy 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW 

Washington, D.C. 20585-0121 

Memorandum for the Record 

Ex Parte Communication 

Department of Energy 

Meeting of November 29, 2011, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m 

TO: expartecommunications@hq.doe.gov (sent via email) 

Re: Ex Parte, Docket No. EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040; RIN Number 1904-AC52 

On November 29, 2011, William Check of the National Cable & Telecommunications 

Association (“NCTA”),1

 Paul Glist of the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and I met 

with Daniel Cohen, Betsy Kohl, and Celia Sher from the Department of Energy (“DOE” or 

“Department”) Office of General Counsel, and John Cymbalsky and Jeremy Dommu from 

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to discuss the above-referenced 

pending rulemaking proceeding addressing whether set-top boxes should be deemed covered 

products potentially subject to mandatory energy efficiency standards. As described below, in 

our meeting we discussed (1) a recent cable industry energy conservation initiative that builds 

upon actions the industry has already taken to achieve energy efficiency in the set-top boxes we 

provide to our customers and (2) misstatements and misinformation reflected in the comments 

filed in this proceeding by some proponents of regulation of set-top boxes. We concluded by 

explaining – as we did in our initial Comments in this proceeding – that, given the record in this 

proceeding and under the Department’s governing statute and regulations, the Department should 

conclude that it is neither necessary nor appropriate to determine that set-top boxes are “covered 

products” under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (“EPCA”). 

 

1

 NCTA is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable industry, representing cable operators serving more 

than 90 percent of the nation’s cable television households, more than 200 cable program networks, and 

suppliers of equipment and other products and services to the cable industry. 
2 

CABLE INDUSTRY ENERGY CONSERVATION INITIATIVE 

On November 18, 2011, the U.S. cable industry announced a new initiative dedicated to 

improving the energy efficiency of cable-provided consumer set-top boxes and developing 

advanced cable-enabled services designed to promote innovative consumer energy conservation 

measures. A key element of the initiative is the “CableLabs® - Energy Lab,” a new facility 

within the cable industry’s research and development (“R&D”) consortium that will concentrate 

exclusively on improving energy efficiency.2 As detailed in Attachment A, the industry’s energy 

initiative will promote the development, testing, and deployment of technologies that will enable 

cable customers to reduce and manage energy consumption in the home, including establishing 

new requirements for both cable video devices and network support systems. Among other 

things, new specifications developed through CableLabs® - Energy Lab will enable the 

manufacturing of devices with next-generation semiconductors to enable “deep sleep” mode 

when subscribers are not actively watching television, while preserving the customer experience 

when they turn on their equipment for viewing. After successful field testing of set-top boxes 

with next generation power management semiconductors, cable operators will begin promoting 

the deployment of these devices as part of their ongoing efforts to provide functional, reliable, 

and energy efficient services. 

As part of the initiative, the six largest cable operators will begin deployment in 

September 2012 of new set-top boxes with “light sleep” capabilities. By year-end 2013, those 

same operators will ensure that 90% of all new set-top boxes they each purchase and place in 

service will meet or exceed ENERGY STAR 3.0 standards. The six largest operators provide 

service to over 85% of the cable customers in the United States. By committing to deployment 

of these energy-savings devices, equipment suppliers should be able to produce those devices in 

a volume which will bring down the costs of production, enabling smaller operators to acquire 

and deploy the same equipment to their customers. Several cable initiatives in the past have used 

this approach to bring new equipment and services to market. 

According to press reports,3

 the cable industry energy initiative was favorably received, 

including by many who had suggested mandatory government regulation of set-top box energy 

consumption might be necessary to achieve significant energy efficiency gains. For example: 

 

2

 CableLabs, founded in 1988, is the cable industry’s research and development consortium, which plays a role 

similar to that traditionally played by BellLabs for the telephone industry. CableLabs has over 40 cable operator 

members representing over 80 million customers, predominantly in North America (U.S. and Canada), but also 

internationally in Europe, Asia, and Central America. Its annual budget exceeds $60 million and it has over 160 

employees including over 120 technical staff. CableLabs has a formal visiting engineer program involving 

subject matter experts from the supplier community (approximately 30 are in residence at this time). CableLabs 

is governed by a Board of Directors made up of the CEOs of cable operator members. Among other things, 

CableLabs developed common cable modem specifications enabling the size and price of such modems to 

quickly plummet as they were made available at retail outlets across the country. These activities, in turn, 

spurred the revolution in broadband access that the Nation has experienced in recent years. CableLabs also 

developed specifications enabling cable operators to provide facilities-based digital voice or VoIP (“Voice over 

Internet Protocol”) telephone service and has worked cooperatively with the FBI and other law enforcement 

entities to develop specifications for lawful CALEA intercepts of VoIP and broadband Internet services. 

3

 See Jonathan Make, Major Cable Operators Target Energy Star 3.0 Devices, Communications Daily (Nov. 21, 

2011) (attached as Attachment B and reprinted with permission of Warren Communications News Inc.).
3 

 Senator Dianne Feinstein, who in September requested that cable operators 

and other video providers develop more energy efficient devices, said she was 

“pleased” by the industry initiative, adding “I plan to monitor the progress of 

this initiative closely. Moving toward cable boxes with ‘light-sleep’ and 

‘deep-sleep’ technology is an important victory for American consumers who 

stand to save substantially on their utility bills.” 

 The head of EPA’s ENERGY STAR product development, Katharine Kaplan,

called the cable industry initiative an “exciting commitment to deliver greater 

efficiency to the millions of Americans who rely on cable set-top boxes.” She 

added that the initiative’s focus on deployment of boxes that drop to a “true 

low power sleep mode when not in use offers particular promise for consumer 

and environmental savings.” Ms. Kaplan concluded that “EPA's ENERGY 

STAR program will look forward to supporting this effort in the ENERGY 

STAR program’s ongoing push for more energy efficient set top boxes of all 

types.” 

 The Natural Resources Defense Council, through its Senior Scientist Noah 

Horowitz, said it was “pleased to see that the cable industry is finally 

acknowledging that they have a problem and are beginning to take the right 

steps to try to address it.”4

 The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (“NEEP”), through David Lis, 

NEEP appliance standards project manager, said that the cable industry 

initiative “starts the industry down the road of reduced energy use in these 

products,” and “it will be crucial for this effort to sustain itself over many 

years.” “We are particularly glad to see the initiative’s emphasis on low 

energy standby modes reducing cable boxes energy use when the units are 

delivering no service to the consumer.” 

As we discussed in our meeting, the cable industry is committed to – and achieving – 

increased energy efficiency in ways that can provide the wide variety of services and 

functionalities that customers expect from the many different and complex networks involved in 

rendering services. In light of this commitment and for other significant reasons, NCTA urges 

the Department to conclude that is neither necessary nor appropriate to classify set-top boxes as 

“covered products” to achieve the purposes and goals of the EPCA. We summarize below, as we 

did in the presentation we made to DOE staff (see Attachment C), the reasons why the 

Department should conclude this proceeding without making a determination that set-top boxes 

are “covered products.” 

 

4

 In a subsequent blog post titled Cable Industry Owns Up to Energy Problem and Commits to Fixing It, NRDC 

wrote: “As you sit down to watch football games and the Macy’s Day Parade, here’s one more item to give 

thanks for this holiday weekend – the cable industry newly announced a commitment to cut the energy use of 

those set top boxes that allow us to watch cable TV.” Noah Horowitz, Cable Industry Owns Up to Energy 

Problem and Commits to Fixing It, Switchboard, Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog (Nov. 21, 2011), 

available at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/nhorowitz/cable_industry_owns_up_to_ener.html. 
4 

MANY COMMENTS FROM PROPONENTS OF REGULATION ARE 

BASED ON MISINFORMATION AND MISTATEMENTS OF FACT 

At our meeting with DOE staff we addressed several of the comments submitted in this 

proceeding and explained that they are based on misinformation and propose approaches that 

will fail to meet EPCA’s central purposes. 

Set-Top Boxes Exhibit Increasing Energy Efficiency. Many comments start from the 

incorrect assumption that cable set-top box energy consumption is worsening. Several call 

ENERGY STAR a failure and cite purported trivial percentages of ENERGY STAR set-top 

boxes used by consumers.5 In fact, a huge percentage of set-top boxes deployed by cable 

operators are ENERGY STAR compliant. For example, as we explained, over ninety percent of 

set-top boxes purchased by the six largest cable operators are ENERGY STAR compliant, more 

than is expected of an ENERGY STAR partner. Moreover, some proponents of regulation 

contend that there is “stagnation” in the development of energy-efficient set-top boxes.6

 In fact, 

the energy consumption of set-top boxes has dropped by nearly half even as their functionality 

has increased, and cable operators have been utilizing innovative energy efficient technologies – 

such as going all digital, operating small set-top boxes such as Digital Transport Adaptors 

(“DTAs”) at less than 4 Watts, and delivering services using network-based, cloud-based, and 

IP-based approaches – that revolutionize set-top boxes or eliminate them entirely.7

 The 

industry’s most recent energy initiatives are designed to promote still more innovative energy 

efficient technologies. 

Business Incentives Compel Increased Energy Efficiency. Many pro-regulation 

commenters incorrectly assert that supposed worsening energy performance is due to a lack of 

incentive by cable operators and their equipment suppliers to conserve energy.8 As explained in 

NCTA’s Comments, cable operators have strong incentives to pursue energy efficiencies in the 

equipment they provide to customers because they own and maintain tens of millions of devices 

in consumer homes in order to deliver services in a highly competitive marketplace.9 If these 

devices fail, it results in customer dissatisfaction, and expensive customer service calls and truck 

rolls. Lower power consumption generally leads to less heat and lower operating temperatures, 

lower failure rates, fewer customer service calls, and increased device longevity. Integrating 

components onto more efficient “systems on a chip” also lowers costs and increases processing 

power for more competitive applications and services. Thus, market dynamics motivate cable 

 

5

 Northwest Energy Efficiency Partnership (“NEEP”) Comments at 2 (claiming only 8 percent of retail set-top 

boxes are compliant, ignoring leased set-top boxes); Energy Northeast (“ENE”) Comments at 2; Natural 

Resources Defense Council (“NRDC”) Comments at 7. 

6

 NEEP Comments at 3. 

7

 See NCTA Comments at 3. 

8

 The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (“NEEA”), California Investor Owned Utilities (“CA IOUs”), ENE, 

Consumer Federation of America (“CFA”), and NEEP all presume that cable operators are uninterested in 

increasing the energy efficiency of set-top boxes on the theory that they are influenced by split market incentives 

and that set-top box manufacturers feel “little pressure” to be energy efficient. See NEEP Comments at 2; See

NEEA Comments at 2; CA IOUs Comments at 3; ENE Comments at 1; CFA Comments at 7. 

9

 See NCTA Comments at 4. 
5 

operators to increase energy efficiency in order to increase the reliability of their equipment and 

its performance in a highly competitive marketplace – with or without regulation. 

Set-Top Boxes Are Not Standardized Commodities. Many pro-regulation commenters 

illustrate the supposed indifference by the cable industry to energy consumption by describing 

the range of energy consumption among devices they presume to be fungible commodities. For 

example, CFA argues that “the wide ranges of observed levels of consumption suggest that 

improvement is technically feasible.”10 What these commenters ignore is that different devices 

are designed for different networks, services, and functionalities. That is why there is a broad 

range of devices with different features and functionalities meeting specific customer demands, 

which result in different levels of energy consumption. These diverse and innovative devices 

cannot be shoe-horned into a one-size-fits-all regulatory bucket. Rather than demonstrating that 

all devices can or should be reduced to the lowest common denominator of energy consumption 

by regulatory fiat, it should be clear that the innovation reflected in the variety of set-top devices 

would be restricted by a regulatory prescription.11

Actual Deployments Cannot Be Ignored. Some commenters promoting regulation 

paint a dire portrait of energy consumption based on erroneous information about what types of 

devices are being deployed. For example, NRDC suggests that the DVR is the primary set-top 

box in most households and treats as “typical” a home with one DVR and one HD set-top box.12 

In fact, less than one-third of cable households have a DVR; and therefore the “typical” home 

does not have both an HD DVR and HD set-top box. Moreover, NRDC has ignored the widelydeployed digital transport adaptor used for the cable digital transition, using less than 4 watts of 

power.13 Even in homes that might have a DVR and an HD set-top box, their combined energy 

consumption does not approach the energy use of a refrigerator as alleged by NRDC and 

others.14

False Analogies Are No Basis for Rules. Other commenters appear unaware that settop boxes operate as integrated parts of two-way networks and receive a wide variety of 

programming schedules, diagnostics data, navigation information (such as changes in channel 

location), and software updates while the television set is off in order to operate efficiently on the 

cable network and meet consumer demand for an instant-on television experience. When 

powered down, set-top boxes lose critical capabilities.15 Perhaps based on this lack of 

 

10 CFA Comments at 5. NEEP and CA IOUs make similar claims. See NEEP Comments at 3; CA IOUs 

Comments at 3. 

11 See NCTA Comments at 7-9. 

12 See NRDC Comments at 3, Figure 1. 

13 See NCTA Comments at 17. For example, among household served by the largest cable operator, fewer than 

25% have a DVR plus a HD set-top box, while 78% have one or more DTAs. 

14 See NRDC Comments at 2; Elizabeth Rosenthal, Atop TV Sets, a Power Drain That Runs Nonstop, N.Y. Times, 

June 25, 2011; NCTA Comments at 17-18. 

15 When tested recently at CableLabs, a set-top box that had been powered down was unable to provide instant-on 

functionality when power was restored. It took approximately one minute to tune video, with no guide data for 

navigation. It took approximately ten minutes for guide data to begin to appear, and two hours for complete 

guide data to populate. Software updates, which typically occur when the set-top box is not being used for 

viewing or recording, would extend this delay. When powered up after missing such an update, the set-top box 
6 

understanding of current cable network operations, these commenters offer false analogies for 

how cable set-top boxes may operate at low power. Some point to a BSkyB set-top box, but, 

unlike cable set-top boxes, the BSkyB device is engineered to operate on one-way satellite 

systems and is not compatible with the more advanced two-way U.S. cable systems.16 Some 

point to standalone hibernating laptops,17 when, unlike laptops, set-top boxes are continually 

receiving network signals to operate efficiently and provide an instant-on television experience. 

Others cite wireless handset sleep modes, but, unlike set-top boxes, these are designed for 

wireless telephone networks and do not work with cable networks.18 We agree that solutions 

based on advanced chips are a good idea, but the only effective way to achieve energy efficiency 

is by recognizing how cable networks operate in practice and consumer expectations for viewing 

television services -- this is what the cable industry’s new energy initiative is designed to do. 

Proposed Definitions Are Over-Inclusive and Would Swallow All Networks. Several 

pro-regulation commenters compound their unrealistic proposals by defining set-top boxes so 

broadly that the proposed regulations could extend to almost every part of cable networks.19 

These commenters suggest that the rules should cover any equipment that receives audio, video, 

and packet transmission -- which includes everything from the satellite, fiber, and off-air pickup 

at the cable headend, plus all transport equipment in the trunk and distribution networks, before 

signals even reach home set-top boxes. These proponents also propose that any new regulation 

should cover not just residential equipment but also specialized equipment in commercial 

locations. Such a broad approach is not realistic and would undermine the development of 

practical, energy efficiency approaches focused on the residential set-top boxes which have been 

the focus of this proceeding. As NCTA explained in its comments, if the Department were to 

pursue a regulatory approach to “set-top boxes and network equipment,” it would need to refine 

its proposed definitions to (1) exclude network and commercial equipment and focus on devices 

in the home; (2) recognize the significantly different functions of different devices and leave 

ample room for innovation in network termination equipment designed to serve multiple home 

devices; and (3) ensure technological neutrality.20

 first takes approximately 40 minutes to update software before tuning video or populating a guide. If powered 

down for an extended period, a set-top box can lose its entitlements to receive programming (i.e., the box will 

not recognize that the customer is an authorized subscriber to the cable service), and the customer must contact 

the cable operator to send fresh entitlements to the set-top box. 

16 The Pace set-top box for BSkyB wakes the chip several times per second to check for broadcast commands from 

the satellite network. By contrast, U.S. cable networks use a two-way architecture with individual commands for 

a particular set-top box. 

17 See NRDC Comments at 7. 

18 See NEEA Comments at 3. When a wireless handset goes into battery-saving mode, it disables applications that 

require push notification to operate. If cable systems suspended downstream signaling, they would also be 

disabling programming schedule updates, diagnostics data, and navigation information (such as changes in 

channel location) on which systems and consumers depend. As mobile devices travel farther from the cellular 

network, battery-saving recommendations actually render the devices unable to make or receive calls. See, e.g.,

http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html. 

19 See NEEA Comments at 2; CA IOUs Comments at 2. 

20 See NCTA Comments at 21-24. 
7 

THE DEPARTMENT HAS NOT MET THE LEGAL STANDARD FOR EXTENDING 

APPLIANCE STANDARDS TO SET-TOP BOXES AND NETWORK EQUIPMENT 

As NCTA detailed in its comments, the cable industry is committed to energy 

conservation. However, under the Department’s own EPCA rulemaking requirements, it is not 

necessary or appropriate to pursue new government standards for set-top boxes and network 

equipment. Therefore, it would be unwarranted to determine that set-top boxes are “covered 

products.” 21 In brief: 

 “Set-top boxes and network equipment” are distinctly different devices that 

may not be artificially aggregated to sweep them under EPCA.22 

 The Department’s tentative conclusions and NRDC’s analysis are not based 

on typical households.23

 Applying a consumer appliance standard to rapidly developing devices risks 

sacrificing the performance, reliability, and features that consumers demand 

and that the Department is charged with preserving – as even the sources 

relied upon by the Department have warned.24

 A consumer appliance standard is not justified under EPCA because it would 

not result in significant energy conservation relative to non-regulatory 

approaches. Today’s market-driven, innovation-inducing environment is 

clearly superior to regulatory fiat in producing energy savings: cable 

operators have been deploying ENERGY STAR set-top boxes and utilizing 

energy efficient technologies that the 2007 source material underlying the 

Department’s rulemaking could not have anticipated – going all digital, 

utilizing DTAs, and delivering services using network-based, cloud-based and 

IP approaches that revolutionize set-top boxes or eliminate them entirely. 

Next generation devices look even more promising. By contrast, by the time 

that testing protocols and standards could be adopted under a DOE regulatory 

approach, they will be out of date and may disable innovators from quickly 

offering tomorrow’s applications.25

 The Administration has committed to regulatory reform to assure that 

regulations always consider costs and reduce burdens for American businesses 

and consumers, promote freedom of choice, and are driven by real science.26 

Today’s market-driven approach has also produced growth in jobs, in energy-

 

21 See id. at 14-21. 

22 Id. at 14-16. 

23 Id. at 16-18. 

24 Id. at 6-8, 9-10, 15-16. 

25 Id. at 19-21. 

26 Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, Executive Order 13563, 76 Fed. Reg. 3821 (Jan. 21, 2011). 
8 

saving telecommuting, in telemedicine, in broadband and Internet services, in 

choice and savings in voice services, in content and applications, and in new 

opportunities for future innovators – the kind of innovation funded by private 

capital that the Administration has been seeking to stimulate. Under these 

standards and the Department’s own standards-setting criteria, the benefits of 

regulation do not exceed the burdens. The Department should not embark on 

the regulatory path of applying a consumer appliance standards-setting 

process to the wide array of set-top boxes and network equipment in use today 

and likely to be deployed in the future.27

CONCLUSION 

In considering whether mandatory regulation of energy use in set-top boxes is warranted, 

the DOE should recognize that cable operators already have a strong interest in developing 

energy efficient set-top boxes and that the nature and variety of set-top boxes precludes a “onesize-fits-all” regulatory solution. For the reasons stated above and in NCTA’s Comments, the 

Department should not take action at this time to classify “set-top boxes and network equipment” 

as covered products. 

Respectfully submitted, 

/s/ Neal M. Goldberg 

Neal M. Goldberg 

cc: Daniel Cohen 

Betsy Kohl 

Celia Sher 

John Cymbalsky 

Jeremy Dommu 

Attachment A: Press Release, U.S. Cable Industry Launches New Energy Efficiency Initiative 

(November 21, 2011) 

Attachment B: Major Cable Operators Target Energy Star 3.0 Devices, Communications Daily 

(November 21, 2011) 

Attachment C: Energy Efficiency in Cable Set-Top Boxes (November 29, 2011) 

 

27 See NCTA Comments at 18-21. 
ATTACHMENT A 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rob Stoddard/Brian Dietz 

November 18, 2011 202-222-2350 

U.S. Cable Industry Launches New Energy Efficiency Initiative 

CableLabs® - Energy Lab Facility Dedicated to Improving Energy Conservation 

Washington, D.C. and Louisville, CO – The U.S. cable industry today announced a new 

initiative dedicated to improving the energy efficiency of consumer set-top boxes and other 

devices and developing advanced cable-enabled services designed to promote innovative 

consumer energy conservation measures. A key element of the initiative is the “CableLabs® - 

Energy Lab,” a new facility within the cable industry’s R&D consortium that will concentrate 

exclusively on improving energy efficiency, the National Cable & Telecommunications 

Association (NCTA) and CableLabs® announced today. 

The energy initiative will promote the development, testing, and deployment of 

technologies that will enable cable subscribers to reduce and manage energy consumption in the 

home, including establishing new requirements for both cable video devices and network support 

systems. Among other things, these specifications will enable the manufacturing of devices that 

have “sleep” capabilities to reduce power consumption when subscribers are not actively 

watching television. After successful field testing of set-top boxes with next generation power 

management semiconductors, cable operators will begin promoting the deployment of these 

devices as part of their ongoing efforts to provide functional, reliable and energy efficient 

services. 

The resulting increased energy efficiency for new model set-top boxes will improve on 

the strides in recent years by cable operators to utilize devices with dramatically lower energy 

consumption than previous generations of equipment. In addition, cable operators providing 

service to approximately 85 percent of U.S. cable customers have committed to ensure that by 

the end of 2013 at least 90 percent of all new set-top boxes they purchase and deploy will be 

ENERGY STAR 3.0 devices. 

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) – who in a September letter to cable and other 

video providers challenged the industry to develop more energy efficient devices – applauded the 

initiative: “I am pleased the cable industry was responsive to my request that it work on 

deploying energy efficient cable boxes,” said Feinstein. “I plan to monitor the progress of this 
initiative closely. Moving toward cable boxes with ‘light-sleep’ and ‘deep-sleep’ technology is 

an important victory for American consumers who stand to save substantially on their utility 

bills.” 

“This important energy initiative will build upon the industry’s exemplary record of 

improving the energy efficiency of successive generations of video devices and services without 

government intervention, and more importantly it will chart our energy conservation course for 

the future,” said Michael Powell, NCTA President & CEO. “In the hyper-competitive video 

marketplace, delivering fully functional, reliable and energy efficient equipment is critical to our 

industry’s success, and it’s good for consumers. Offering energy efficient devices builds on the 

cable’s industry’s imperative to deliver innovation throughout our entire consumer offering.” 

The CableLabs® - Energy Lab will leverage the expertise and capabilities of CableLabs 

to build industry consensus on projects that will enhance current energy conservation efforts. 

The CableLabs® - Energy Lab will: 

 Design and maintain a consistent and accurate energy tracking program for measuring 

and reporting energy consumption and efficiency improvements of new set-top boxes. 

Procedures for testing and advancing the energy efficiency of set-top boxes and 

energy conserving software will also be established. 

 Serve as a testing and development facility for designers of energy efficient software 

and hardware. 

 Create energy efficiency specifications for semiconductor and hardware suppliers and 

the network operations systems that support cable devices. 

 Assist in developing applications and products that will help consumers manage their 

overall residential energy consumption. 

 Showcase and demonstrate current and future energy savings products and power 

monitoring capabilities. 

“CableLabs is pleased to play a central role in the cable industry's new energy 

conservation initiatives. The CableLabs – Energy Lab demonstrates how the cable industry 

recognizes its opportunity to reduce the energy consumption of devices that our customers use to 

access cable services, and takes full advantage of cable technology to enable consumers to 

manage energy consumption throughout the home.” said Paul Liao, CableLabs President & 

CEO. 

The CableLabs® - Energy Lab initiative will develop collaborative projects with 

universities and other innovators to promote and showcase the latest in energy management 

technologies that are enabled by high-speed cable networks, and it is expected to be fully 

functional by the first quarter of 2012. 

Cable operators and other multichannel video providers purchase and maintain tens of 

millions of video devices that are used in consumer homes. Today’s fully functional interactive 

set-top boxes are mini-computers that work as highly integrated components of complex 

networks. While consumer demand for interactive video services has fueled the need for 

increasingly sophisticated and more powerful devices, the cable industry has both improved the 
energy efficiency of set-top boxes and launched new methods of delivering cable services using 

network-based, cloud-based, and IP-based approaches that revolutionize set-top boxes or 

eliminate them entirely. 

 Some of the cable industry’s efforts to improve energy efficiency include: 

 The vast majority of the set-top boxes purchased by cable operators are ENERGY 

STAR qualified, as evidenced by recent deployments of the two largest cable 

operators. In the first quarter of 2011, 95 percent of Comcast’s deployments and 100 

percent of Time Warner Cable’s devices were ENERGY STAR devices. 

 Utilization of ENERGY STAR 3.0-qualified high-definition DVRs that consume less 

than half of the energy but provide more processing power and home-networking 

capabilities than the 40+ Watt HD DVRs introduced ten years ago. 

 In cable markets that have converted to all digital systems, operators are providing 

customers with small digital transport adapters (DTAs) that use less than four Watts. 

 Introduction of new services that decrease the home’s overall energy profile such as: 

digital-only tuners; home networking and whole-home DVR; network- and cloudbased delivery that allows the processing and storage power of the network to be 

shared across many consumers; and video services delivered via Internet Protocol 

(IP) directly to tablets and gaming stations without the need for a set-top box. 

NCTA and CableLabs will also continue to collaborate with government, industry, and 

research organizations to develop approaches and share best practices which can lead to further 

energy improvements. 

### 
ATTACHMENT B 
This story is reprinted with permission of Warren Communications News Inc. -- 800-771-9092 or www.warrennews.com

Please do not post this story online or redistribute it without the permission of Warren Communications News. Warren 

Communications News, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

COMMUNICATIONS DAILY

Monday, November 21, 2011 VOL. 31, NO. 224

 

Six Biggest Cable Operators

Major Cable Operators Target Energy Star 3.0 Devices; NCTA Hopes 

to Avoid Rules

Major cable operators plan to deploy more energy-efficient set-top boxes than those widely in 

use now. The U.S.'s six biggest cable operators plan to have at least 90 percent of all new settops they buy and deploy by the end of 2013 be Energy Star 3.0-compliant, NCTA executives 

said Friday. The association and CableLabs are setting up an energy lab to develop electricityefficient set-tops and other gear used by consumers, and equipment used by cable companies' 

networks. A CEA executive said such efforts may reduce power usage and costs, the 

Environmental Protection Agency said it's a good move, and environmental groups backed it 

while saying more must be done by cable operators to use less power.

The plan's goal is to reduce the cost of semiconductors and other components, to bring down 

the price that the top cable operators must pay for devices meeting the U.S. standard, NCTA 

General Counsel Neal Goldberg said. Energy Star 3.0 took effect in September, he noted. The 

hope is that once costs come down because many more 3.0 set-tops are produced, other 

operators will be able to take advantage of the less expensive devices, he said. Bright House 

Networks, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Comcast and Time 

Warner Cable, with a total of about 49 million video subscribers, have initially committed to the 

goal, NCTA executives said. AT&T and Verizon said they're among other multichannel video 

programming distributors also reducing energy usage.

The CableLabs Energy Lab facility and the cable industry's efforts toward deploying Energy Star 

3.0 devices will be cited in conversations with energy regulators, Goldberg said. NCTA will keep 

trying to show that set-tops shouldn't be considered covered products under the standard, after 

the Department of Energy tentatively found they should be covered. "We’re certainly going to 

discuss doing the new initiative with DOE," Goldberg said. "We’re going to show them that 

based on this trajectory" of the 90 percent by 2013 plan, he continued, versus "the usual length 

of time for a rulemaking proceeding to go from start to finish," the association hopes to "be on 

the right track well before any rule could be implemented."

The procurement plan is limited to the biggest cable operators for now, "because you need to 

hope to get the scale that the top-six operators can give you to bring the cost of these 

components and boxes down," Goldberg said. "And then we would hope that all cable operators 
that use boxes like this can" in turn get the benefits, he continued: "We hope that will be the 

natural consequence of this." The CableLabs Energy Lab may develop more than just set-tops 

that use less energy, Goldberg said: The goal is for the initiative to develop other products and 

services, including some of the infrastructure used by operators. 

Chipmakers probably will help back the cable plan, and "will naturally respond" to it with 

products, said CEA Senior Vice President Brian Markwalter. Semiconductor companies are 

"always pursuing power and efficiency improvements in chips," as "it's always cheaper and 

more reliable to produce" those that consume less energy, he said. Better still are devices other 

than set-tops that can get subscription video and use less energy than the boxes, such as 

tablets, Markwalter said. "It would be better to have one set-top box" used per household "or 

simpler set-top box architecture, to do the simplest set-top box infrastructure you can," he said. 

"To the extent that cable is also trying to accommodate tablets and other streaming technology, 

those things are already efficient." Of the CableLabs Energy Lab, "it's great that they are turning 

it into a specific project, which means it will get some horsepower behind it," he said.

The EPA called the NCTA initiative an "exciting commitment to deliver greater efficiency to the 

millions of Americans who rely on cable set-top boxes." The initiative's focus on deployment of 

boxes that drops to a "true low power sleep mode when not in use offers particular promise for 

consumer and environmental savings," Katharine Kaplan, EPA lead for Energy Star product 

development, said in a written statement. "EPA's ENERGY STAR program will look forward to 

supporting this effort in the ENERGY STAR program's ongoing push for more energy efficient 

set top boxes of all types." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who in September wrote MVPDs 

asking them to develop more energy efficient devices, is "pleased," she said in a statement 

provided by NCTA. "I plan to monitor the progress of this initiative closely. Moving toward cable 

boxes with ‘light-sleep’ and ‘deep-sleep’ technology is an important victory for American 

consumers who stand to save substantially on their utility bills."

CableLabs Energy Lab will be fully up and running by Q1, and already the "vast majority" of settops bought by operators are qualified under earlier versions of Energy Star, NCTA and 

CableLabs said. It targets "utilization of ENERGY STAR 3.0-qualified high-definition DVRs that 

consume less than half of the energy but provide more processing power and home-networking 

capabilities than the 40+ Watt HD DVRs introduced ten years ago," the groups said. "In cable 

markets that have converted to all digital systems, operators are providing customers with small 

digital transport adapters (DTAs) that use less than four Watts." New services are being 

introduced to decrease the home’s "overall energy profile such as: digital-only tuners; home 

networking and whole-home DVR; network- and cloud-based delivery that allows the processing 

and storage power of the network to be shared across many consumers; and video services 

delivered via Internet Protocol (IP) directly to tablets and gaming stations without the need for a 

set-top," they said (http://xrl.us/bmiysi).

Verizon is among MVPDs "working towards alternative methods for delivering video that will 

reduce the number of traditional set-top boxes" a typical household needs, "if not eliminate them 

altogether," a spokesman said. "Our work is already paying off." The telco-TV company was the 

first "significant video provider to offer whole-home DVR service," he said. Such DVRs allow a 

set-top to access what's been recorded on a DVR elsewhere in a home, which "reduces the 

need for subscribers to employ multiple DVRs" that have "relatively higher energy usage" levels, 

the spokesman said. He said the telco introduced last year "green" set-tops using 30 percent 

less energy than traditional ones (http://xrl.us/bmiysr). 
"Energy efficiency is of special importance to AT&T," a spokeswoman said. "Unlike most other 

video service providers, currently our full line of set-top boxes is Energy Star qualified," which 

has been the case since the telco began selling its U-verse pay-TV service, she added. 

EchoStar, which makes most of sister company Dish Network's set-top equipment, is a member 

of Energy Star and CableLabs, a spokesman for the DBS company said. DirecTV and the 

American Cable Association had no comment.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is "pleased to see that the cable industry is finally 

acknowledging that they have a problem and are beginning to take the right steps to try to 

address it," said Senior Scientist Noah Horowitz. "Antiquated designs" mean existing cable and 

satellite set-tops consume a "whopping" $2 billion per year and six power plants worth of 

electricity when not in use, he said. "Hitting the off button on many of the boxes merely dims the 

clock and the device continues to consume near full levels of power 24/7." The industry needs 

to adopt some of the "smarts" already in place in smartphones and tablets which use "a trickle 

of power when in standby mode and boot back up instantly," Horowitz said. The cable industry 

must "pick up the pace and accelerate their efforts," he said. "You can bet the industry would be 

all over this if they had to pay for all the wasted electricity their installed boxes cause instead of 

the consumer." Some current DVRs use more electricity over the course of a year than the bigscreen TVs they're connected to, Horowitz said.

The NCTA initiative "starts the industry down the road of reduced energy use in these products," 

and "it will be crucial for this effort to sustain itself over many years," said the Northeast Energy 

Efficiency Partnership. "For far too long, efficiency has taken a back seat in the development of 

more functional cable boxes, with consumers paying an untold price," said David Lis, NEEP 

appliance standards project manager. "We are particularly glad to see the initiative's emphasis 

on low energy standby modes reducing cable boxes energy use when the units are delivering 

no service to the consumer." If the industry wants to demonstrate "real leadership" in the area of 

energy efficiency, he said the NEEP encourages the six cable operators "to aim for a significant 

market penetration of Energy Star 4.0 units." Those standards are projected to be effective in 

July 2013. — Jonathan Make, Dinesh Kumar
ATTACHMENT C 
1

Energy Efficiency in Cable 

Set-Top Boxes

November 29, 2011

2

Agenda

• Recent Model Energy 

Efficiency

• Business Incentives 

for Energy Efficiency

• Functionalities at Risk 

with Power Reduction

• Industry Initiative

– CableLabs® - Energy 

Lab

– Light Sleep Mode

– Deep Sleep Mode

– Procurement 

Commitments

• Other Energy Saving 

Developments

• Impact of Market on 

Regulatory Approaches
3

Glossary

 DVR = Digital Video Recorder

 STB = Set-top Box

 HD = High Definition video

 SD = Standard Definition video

 IP = Internet Protocol

 VoIP = Voice over IP

 MTA = Media Terminal Adaptor (aka VoIP terminal)

 VoD = Video-on-Demand

4

Recent Model Energy Efficiency

• Majority of set-tops purchased by cable operators today 

are ENERGY STAR Version 2.1 or Version 3

– Cable Industry: > 90% of new set-top purchases ENERGY 

STAR compliant. Examples:

– Comcast: 95% of Q1 2011 in-home equipment deliveries 

ENERGY STAR compliant

– Low-wattage Digital Transport Adaptors (DTAs) use less 

than 4W

– Time Warner Cable: 100% of 2011 set-top purchases and 

deployments ENERGY STAR compliant

• Significant reduction in set-top energy consumption over 

time (shown on next two slides)
5

Historic Energy Reductions In Cable STBs

5

6

Power Consumption by Year of New Models 

Power Consumption by Year of New Models 

6
7

Business Incentives

• Rapid change and innovation – including HDTV, DVRs, 

multiple tuners, interactive program guides, increased 

storage capacity, “switched digital” channels, increased 

processing power and memory. 

• Tens of millions of these devices in consumer homes.

• Energy efficiency can increase reliability, reduce service 

calls, improve performance and device longevity in 

competitive environment demanding reliability.

• Integration in “systems on a chip” (SoCs) reduces 

component count, lowers failure rates and costs, 

increases performance with generational chip changes.

8

Diversity of Cable Devices & Functionality

Device Description

HD DVR STB provides linear TV (both SD & HD), DVR, 

VoD, and optionally may be the server for multi-room DVR

HD STB provides linear TV (both SD & HD), VoD, and 

optionally may be the client for multi-room DVR

DTA STB provides linear TV (SD & HD) only

Small network devices:

• Cable Modem provides High Speed Data (HSD) service

• Media Terminal Adaptor provides digital phone service 

and optionally HSD

• Gateway provides HSD, home networking, and digital 

phone service

8
Cable Network Overview

9

Internet

Cable 

Headend

Not all devices in typical 

cable Home

Continuous flow of

- TV programming

- EPG data (except to DTAs)

- System Information

- Software updates

- Subscriber Entitlements

Two-way IP network 

for HSD & digital 

phone

STBs in home must 

constantly monitor 

this information to 

respond to changes 

correctly

10

Current Functionality of STBs

• Updates in background to assure “instant on”

– Electronic Program Guide is kept in set-top

• Navigation information (such as changes in channel 

location) 

• Populating program guides with the latest programming 

schedules and descriptions

– Software updates

– Conditional access and entitlement state

– Receiving and sending other data for diagnostics; loss of 

network connectivity can indicate network failure to the 

cable operator

• Power loss interrupts all network functions
11

Cable Industry Energy Initiative

• CableLabs® - Energy Lab

• “Light sleep” capabilities for new set-top boxes would 

preserve functionality 

– e.g., spinning down disk

• “Deep Sleep” requires generational change in silicon

– Would turn off portions of set-top box, but retain network 

connectivity

• Six largest cable operators will buy at least 90% ESv3 

set-tops by Q4 2013

– Serve ~ 85 % of U.S. cable customers 

12

CableLabs® - Energy Lab

 Energy tracking program for set-top boxes

 Opening relations with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 

CalPlug

 Testing and development facility for designers of energy 

efficient software and hardware

 Create next gen semiconductor energy efficiency 

specifications for cable devices

 Will need cooperation of chip, guide, software, hardware, 

conditional access & security parties for this change

 Assist in developing applications and products for 

consumers to manage overall residential energy

 Showcase energy savings products and power monitoring
Overall Timeline

13

2011 2012 2013 2014

Demo Light

Sleep Features

CableLabs –

Energy Lab

Established

Deployment

Light Sleep

Features

Begin Energy

Reporting

Program

Deep Sleep

Specification

6 Largest Cable Operators

Purchase & Place in Service 90%

ESV3

Field Trials of

Deep Sleep

Specification Development

Silicon Development

STB Development

Software Development

QA and Operational Readiness

Projected Power Saving Modes

14
Projected Energy Consumption

Assumes 6hrs per day viewing

15

16

Procurement Commitments

• Six largest cable operators committed that by Q4 2013 at 

least 90 percent of all new set-top boxes they purchase 

and deploy will be ESv3 

– Serve ~ 85 % of U.S. cable customers 

– Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision, 

Bright House
17

Response to Initiative

• Sen Feinstein: “Moving toward cable boxes with ‘light-sleep’ and 

‘deep-sleep’ technology is an important victory for American 

consumers who stand to save substantially on their utility bills.”

• EPA’s Katharine Kaplan called the initiative an "exciting commitment 

to deliver greater efficiency to the millions of Americans who rely on 

cable set-top boxes.”

• The Natural Resources Defense Council is "pleased to see that the 

cable industry is finally acknowledging that they have a problem and 

are beginning to take the right steps to try to address it.” 

• Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership says the initiative "starts 

the industry down the road of reduced energy use in these products.”

18

Other Energy Saving Developments

• All-digital systems mean more efficient digital tuners and 

DTAs

• Increasing use of home networking approaches such as 

MoCA

• Delivery via IP directly to tablets, gaming stations, and 

“smart” digital televisions (without set-top box)

• Set-top functionality and applications moving into the 

network and cloud
19

Impact of Market on Regulatory Approaches

• Many comments ignore device and network differences, 

underrate current model energy efficiency, overstate 

“typical” home configuration

• Market delivering efficiencies and technological innovation 

more effectively than regulation

• Regulated consumer appliance standard risks sacrificing 

innovations in performance, reliability, and features that 

consumers demand