Overview

Energy use is growing, but that's only part of the problem. From the time a power plant generates power, to the time we turn on the lights, we lose two-thirds of that energy. As we shift to clean, renewable energy sources like solar, wind and biomass, we also need to be reducing our energy waste.

Energy efficiency is the quickest, cheapest and cleanest way to get smart about energy use and cut down on the waste. The new standards make use of the fact that energy-efficiency technologies are available now to reduce the amount of electricity and natural gas needed to power Oregon's homes and businesses.

The Oregon efficiency standards improvements come at the same time that there has been inactivity at the federal level.

Following the prompting of several states throughout the 1970s and 1980s, federal energy efficiency standards were established in 1987 through the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act.

In the years since, however, the federal standards program has failed to keep up with technological progress and the development of many energy-saving products, missing the opportunity for energy savings to be attained through updated standards. OSPIRG continues to advocate improved standards at the state and federal level to save energy, and save consumers money on utility bills.