MEMORANDUM

To: expartecommunications@hq.doe.gov 

Cc: DoE meeting attendees

From: CEA, ITIC, TIA, A4WP

Date: May 5, 2014 

Re: Docket No. EERE– 2008–BT–STD–0005, RIN 1904–AB57 

Ex parte communication 

Department of Energy 

This memorandum provides a summary of an April 29, 2014, meeting with U.S. Department of 

Energy (“DoE”) staff concerning DOE’s rulemaking relating to regarding Energy Conservation 

Standards for Battery Chargers. 

Meeting attendees: 

Daniel Cohen (DoE Office of General Counsel) 

Jeremy Dommu (DoE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) 

Michael Kido (DoE Office of General Counsel) 

Douglas Johnson (Consumer Electronics Association - CEA) 

Erica Logan (Information Technology Industry Council - ITIC) 

Joseph Andersen (Telecommunications Industry Association - TIA) 

Shahid Sheikh (Intel Corporation) 

John Kuzin (Qualcomm Incorporated) 

Robert Kubik (Samsung Electronics) 

The parties discussed the attached memorandum, which asks the DoE to issue a limited ruling 

that formally defers assessment and potential regulation of wireless battery chargers to a later 

date in order to enable continued innovation of this developing technology that helps to ensure 

that consumer electronic devices are powered when they are needed most. The parties also 

discussed comments that CEA, ITIC, TIA, and the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) each 

have filed in this docket relating to the need to defer energy efficiency regulation of wireless 

battery chargers. Messrs. Sheikh, Kuzin and Kubik represented the A4WP. 
The DoE Should Issue a Limited Order Exempting Wireless Battery Chargers from Energy

Conservation Standards to Enable Continued Innovation Within This Dynamic Technology Sector

The Alliance for Wireless Power (“A4WP”), Consumer Electronics Association (“CEA”), Information Technology 

Industry Council (“ITI”), and Telecommunications Industry Association (“TIA”), among others, strongly supported 

DoE’s proposal in the 2012 NOPR to defer regulating wireless charging systems (specifically those that operate in a 

dry environment) because the technology is currently in a nascent stage, and premature regulation could have 

adverse and unintended consequences.1

 DoE should formally enact this proposal. 

There is active innovation in wireless charging. Companies are designing innovative technologies to enable 

wireless charging of all types of battery-powered devices: smartphones, tablets, Bluetooth headsets, hearing aids, 

gaming devices, etc. These technologies will allow consumers to charge several battery-powered devices 

simultaneously simply by placing them on a charging pad or properly-equipped table, desktop, or vehicle console, 

thereby eliminating the need to connect each device to a separate power adapter plugged into a local ac outlet. By 

providing more convenient and readily accessible charging options, wireless charging systems will help ensure that 

consumers’ phones, tablets, hearing aids, etc. are charged when they are needed most, such as during emergencies. 

Eliminating the need to carry a power adapter for each electronic device is environmentally friendly since it will 

vastly reduce the number of chargers that have to be disposed of. Premature regulation of these nascent 

technologies will impede their growth before consumers ever have the chance to enjoy their benefits. 

DoE’s recent ruling did not address this issue, leaving CEC rules for wireless chargers intact. In February 

2014, the DoE issued energy conservation rules for external power supplies but deferred any ruling as to battery 

chargers in large part because manufacturers were already complying with the California Energy Commission 

(“CEC”) battery charger rules. In contrast to the restraint DoE demonstrated in the 2012 NOPR, the CEC imposed 

regulations on wireless chargers, despite recognizing that the technology is still in a nascent state of development 

and innovative wireless charging products based upon loosely coupled wireless charging technology were not even 

on the market and thus not analyzed. Oregon recently adopted the CEC rules, and other states are looking to do so. 

Exceptions to CEC wireless charger rules may be ignored by additional states that adopt CEC rules. 

Wireless charging manufacturers that cannot comply with the CEC rules can avoid doing so by: (1) separately 

selling the charging pad from the battery pack – CEC has said such a sale is not a “battery charger system,” or

(2) providing a separate wired charging means that complies with CEC rules and informing users that the wired 

connection is the primary means of charging. These exceptions were provided in informal guidance the CEC 

provided via an FAQ document and in response to a question asked during its October 2012 implementation 

workshop. There is no guarantee that other states that adopt the CEC rules will honor these informal exceptions. 

Prompt DoE action is needed. DoE recognized in the NOPR that “the ability to charge multiple devices 

simultaneously and wirelessly offers a unique utility to consumers that could adversely and inadvertently be 

affected by standards.” These concerns, coupled with the immaturity of the technology and concomitant lack of 

energy efficiency performance data, appropriately guided DOE to propose to defer regulation of wireless chargers. 

Unless DoE finalizes this decision, however, manufacturers will be forced to attempt to comply with various state 

rules, which may not be uniform and will impede the successful development and deployment of wireless charging. 

1

 See Department Of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Docket No. EERE–2008–BT–STD–0005, 

RIN 1904-AB57, Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Battery Chargers and External Power 

Supplies, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“2012 NOPR”), 77 Fed. Reg. 18478, 18504-05 (Mar. 27, 2012).