Following a summer of electricity reliability problems and blackouts in a number of states, a coalition of consumer and environmental groups, state government, and utilities praised the Clinton Administration for proposing new air conditioner and heat pump energy-efficiency standards today but said they fall short. But the Administration proposal falls well short of what's needed to lighten the load that air conditioning puts on the nation's strained power systems and consumers' electricity bills.
Air conditioners are the single largest contributor to peak electricity demand.
In many parts of the nation, notably California, New York and Chicago, record peak demand has repeatedly brought the power system to the brink of collapse and, in some instances, precipitated outages. Consumers in the deregulated markets of Southern California and southeastern New York have seen the cost of their electricity skyrocket as demand has outstripped supply. When the difference between keeping our lights and computers on and blackouts can be a few hundred megawatts, we need all the power savings we can get. The Secretary has a golden opportunity to get this key policy decision right. If he fails, we all lose.