I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5070 

To assess the potential of smart electronics to reduce home and office electricity demand, to incorporate smart electronics into the Energy Star 

Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2010 

Mr. HONDA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To assess the potential of smart electronics to reduce home 

and office electricity demand, to incorporate smart electronics into the Energy Star Program, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Electronics 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The International Energy Agency estimates 

2 new electronic gadgets will triple their energy con3 sumption by 2030 to 1,700 terawatt hours, the 

4 equivalent of today’s home electricity consumption of 

5 the United States and Japan combined. 

6 (2) Electronic gadgets already account for 

7 about 15 percent of household electric consumption, 

8 a share that is rising rapidly as the number of these 

9 gadgets multiplies. Last year, the world spent 

10 $80,000,000,000 on electricity to power all these 

11 household electronics, and that is projected to rise to 

12 $200,000,000,000 a year by 2030. 

13 (3) Most of the increase in consumer electronics 

14 will be in developing countries, where economic 

15 growth is fastest and ownership rates of gadgets is 

16 the lowest. 

17 (4) This proliferation in the use of devices will 

18 jeopardize efforts to increase the energy security of 

19 the United States and reduce the emission of green20 house gases blamed for global warming. 

21 (5) The cost to business is even higher. Power 

22 consumed by the typical corporate data center is 

23 growing by 20 percent per year. Existing tech24 nologies could slash gadgets’ energy consumption by 

25 more than 30 percent at no cost or by more than 


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1 50 percent at a small cost, meaning that total green2 house gas emissions from households’ electronic 

3 gadgets could be held stable at around 500,000,000 

4 tons of carbon dioxide per year. 

5 (6) Many governmental policies and programs, 

6 such as the Energy Star program, in the United 

7 States are already missing the opportunity to deliver 

8 20 percent to 50 percent more savings, due to poor 

9 attention to implementation. Most such programs 

10 are voluntary, and need to be improved with both 

11 clear mandates and incentives. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 For purposes of this Act: 

14 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ16 mental Protection Agency. 

17 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Energy. 

19 (3) SMART ELECTRONICS.—The term ‘‘smart 

20 electronics’’ means consumer electronics with at 

21 least one or more of the following characteristics: 

22 (A) Power-factor correction. 

23 (B) Stand-by power. 


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1 (C) Communication with smart grid and 

2 in-home and networked energy monitoring 

3 equipment. 

4 (D) On-demand and variable processing 

5 speed semiconductors. 

6 (E) Off-peak operation and charging. 

7 (F) Low power switchable modes. 

8 (G) The ability to achieve greater effi9 ciency with multiple functions on semiconduc10 tors. 

11 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS. 

12 Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 the Secretary and the Administrator shall submit a report 

14 to Congress that— 

15 (1) assesses the potential for cost-effective inte16 gration of smart electronics technologies and capa17 bilities in all products that are reviewed by the De18 partment of Energy and the Environmental Protec19 tion Agency, respectively, for potential designation 

20 as Energy Star products; 

21 (2) assesses the growth of consumer electronics 

22 utilization and the associated energy consumption; 

23 (3) analyzes the potential energy savings and 

24 electricity cost savings that could accrue through 


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1 specific Energy Star program focus on smart elec2 tronics; and 

3 (4) analyzes and ranks the potential of cost-ef4 fective smart electronics technologies. 

5 SEC. 5. INCORPORATION OF SMART ELECTRONICS IN EN6 ERGY STAR PROGRAM. 

7 To the extent that it is consistent with the findings 

8 of the report under section 4, the Secretary and the Ad9 ministrator shall develop a smart electronics emphasis as 

10 part of the implementation of the Energy Star program. 

11 SEC. 6. SMART ELECTRONICS REGISTRY. 

12 To the extent that it is consistent with the findings 

13 of the report under section 4, the Secretary and the Ad14 ministrator shall establish a Smart Electronics Registry 

15 that provides a voluntary mechanism for electronics manu16 facturers and sellers to register their smart electronics 

17 products. In operating the registry, the Secretary and the 

18 Administrator shall— 

19 (1) work with manufacturers to develop testing 

20 and verification protocols to ensure that products 

21 qualify as smart electronics; and 

22 (2) work with sellers to develop qualification 

23 criteria for smart electronics sales location labeling. 

Æ 


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