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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 81 (Thursday, April 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24940-24941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10058]

[[Page 24940]]

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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 2012 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 May 29, 2012 and will remain in 
effect until further notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mohammed Khan, 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) 586-7892, Mohammed.Khan@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 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 March 10, 2011, 76 FR 13168.
    May 29, 2012, the cost figures published in today's notice will 
become effective and supersede those cost figures published on March 
10, 2011. The cost figures set forth in today's notice will be 
effective until further notice.
    New Paragraph DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) has 
developed the 2012 representative average unit after-tax costs found in 
this notice. The representative average unit after-tax costs for 
electricity, natural gas, No. 2 heating oil, and propane are based on 
simulations used to produce the March, 2012, 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 2006-2010 averages for these two 
fuels. The source for these price data is the March, 2012, Monthly 
Energy Review DOE/EIA-0035(2012/02). 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 prices and Mont 
Belvieu spot prices. In prior Federal Register notices, the propane 
price was based on a previous 5-year average ratio with heating oil 
prices published in the Monthly Energy Review, but the propane price 
series was dropped in March 2011 due to budgetary issues. For more 
information on the two sources, 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 2012 representative average unit costs under section 323(b)(4) 
of the Act are set forth in Table 1, and will become effective May 29, 
2012. They will remain in effect until further notice.

    Dated: Issued in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2012.
David Danielson,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

         Table 1--Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy for Five Residential Energy Sources (2012)
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                                          Per million
            Type of energy                  Btu \1\       In commonly used terms   As required by test procedure
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Electricity...........................          $34.70  11.84[cent]/kWh 2 3......  $.1184/kWh
Natural Gas...........................           10.35  $1.059/therm \4\ or        .00001035/Btu
                                                         $10.59/MCF 5 6.
No. 2 Heating Oil.....................           29.12  $4.04/gallon \7\.........  .00002912/Btu
Propane...............................           28.03  $2.56/gallon \8\.........  .00002803/Btu
Kerosene..............................           32.22  $4.35/gallon \9\.........  .00003222/Btu
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Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (March, 2012) and Monthly Energy
  Review (March, 2012), except for propane.
\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. Natural gas prices include taxes.
\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.

[[Page 24941]]

[FR Doc. 2012-10058 Filed 4-25-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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