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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17648-17649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06618]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Representative 
Average Unit Costs of Energy

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is 
forecasting the representative average unit costs of five residential 
energy sources for the year 2013 pursuant to the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act. The five sources are electricity, natural gas, No. 2 
heating oil, propane, and kerosene.

DATES: The representative average unit costs of energy contained in 
this notice will become effective April 22, 2013 and will remain in 
effect until further notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John Cymbalsky, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency 
and Renewable Energy Forrestal Building, Mail Station EE-2J 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121, (202) 287-1692, 
Rep_Average_Unit_Costs@ee.doe.gov.
Francine Pinto, Esq. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General 
Counsel Forrestal Building, Mail Station GC-72, 1000 Independence 
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0103, (202) 586-7432, 
Francine.Pinto@hq.doe.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 323 of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act (Act) requires that DOE prescribe test procedures for 
the measurement of the estimated annual operating costs or other 
measures of energy consumption for certain consumer products specified 
in the Act. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) These test procedures are found in 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 430, subpart B.
    Section 323(b)(3) of the Act requires that the estimated annual 
operating costs of a covered product be calculated from measurements of 
energy use in a representative average use cycle or period of use and 
from representative average unit costs of the energy needed to operate 
such product during such cycle. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) The section 
further requires that DOE provide information to manufacturers 
regarding the representative average unit costs of energy. (42 U.S.C. 
6293(b)(4)) This cost

[[Page 17649]]

information should be used by manufacturers to meet their obligations 
under section 323(c) of the Act. Most notably, these costs are used to 
comply with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements for labeling. 
Manufacturers are required to use the revised DOE representative 
average unit costs when the FTC publishes new ranges of comparability 
for specific covered products, 16 CFR part 305. Interested parties can 
also find information covering the FTC labeling requirements at http://www.ftc.gov/appliances.
    DOE last published representative average unit costs of residential 
energy in a Federal Register notice entitled, ``Energy Conservation 
Program for Consumer Products: Representative Average Unit Costs of 
Energy'', dated April 26, 2012, 77 FR 24940.
    On April 22, 2013, the cost figures published in today's notice 
will become effective and supersede those cost figures published on 
April 26, 2012. The cost figures set forth in today's notice will be 
effective until further notice.
    DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) has developed the 
2013 representative average unit after-tax residential costs found in 
this notice. These costs for electricity, natural gas, No. 2 heating 
oil, and propane are based on simulations used to produce the March 
2013, EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook (EIA releases the Outlook monthly). 
The representative average unit after-tax cost for kerosene is derived 
from its price relative to that of heating oil, based on the 2008-2012 
averages for these fuels. The source for these price data is the 
February 2013, Monthly Energy Review DOE/EIA-0035 (2013/02). The Short-
Term Energy Outlook and the Monthly Energy Review are available on the 
EIA Web site at http://www.eia.doe.gov. Propane prices are econometric 
modeling projections based on historical Weekly Petroleum Status Report 
winter prices and Mont Belvieu (Texas) spot and futures prices. For 
more information on the data sources used in this Notice, contact the 
National Energy Information Center, Forrestal Building, EI-30, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-8800, email: 
infoctr@eia.doe.gov.
    The 2013 representative average unit costs under section 323(b)(4) 
of the Act are set forth in Table 1, and will become effective April 
22, 2013. They will remain in effect until further notice.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 12, 2013.
David Danielson,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

         Table 1--Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy for Five Residential Energy Sources (2013)
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                                       Per million Btu
           Type of energy                    \1\         In commonly used terms   As required by test procedure
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Electricity.........................            $35.46  12.1[cent]/kWh 2 3.....  $0.121/kWh
Natural Gas.........................             10.87  $1.087/therm \4\ or      $0.00001087/Btu
                                                         $11.12/MCF 5 6.
No. 2 Heating Oil...................             27.40  $3.80/gallon \7\.......  $0.00002740/Btu
Propane.............................             26.39  $2.41/gallon \8\.......  $0.00002639/Btu
Kerosene............................             31.19  $4.21/gallon \9\.......  $0.00003119/Btu
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Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (March 12, 2013) and Monthly Energy
  Review (February 25, 2013).
Notes: Prices include taxes.
\1\ Btu stands for British thermal units.
\2\ kWh stands for kilowatt hour.
\3\ 1 kWh = 3,412 Btu.
\4\ 1 therm = 100,000 Btu.
\5\ MCF stands for 1,000 cubic feet.
\6\ For the purposes of this table, one cubic foot of natural gas has an energy equivalence of 1,023 Btu.
\7\ For the purposes of this table, one gallon of No. 2 heating oil has an energy equivalence of 138,690 Btu.
\8\ For the purposes of this table, one gallon of liquid propane has an energy equivalence of 91,333 Btu.
\9\ For the purposes of this table, one gallon of kerosene has an energy equivalence of 135,000 Btu.

[FR Doc. 2013-06618 Filed 3-21-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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