California
In the U.S. the state of California was a pioneer in the introduction of MEPS. In order to reduce the growth in electricity use, the California Energy Commission (CEC) was given unique and strong authority to regulate the efficiency of appliances sold in the state. It started to adopt appliance efficiency regulations in 1978, and has updated the standards regularly over time, and expanded the list of covered appliances.
In 1988, California's standards became national standards for the U.S. through the enactment of the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA). The federal standards preempted state standards (unless the state justified a waiver from federal preemption based on conditions in the state), and since then, the U.S. Department of Energy has had the responsibility to update the federal standards.
California has continued to expand the list of appliances it regulates for appliances that are not federally regulated, and therefore not preempted. In recent years the CEC's attention has been focused on consumer electronics, for which energy use has been growing dramatically.
Read more about this topic: Minimum Energy Performance Standard
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