ECELP Policy Workshop 25 February 2013 Rodney Bay, St. Lucia POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS AND LABELLING Detlef Loy Consultant CREDP/GIZ
Implemented by OECS Secretariat and CREDP-GIZ Participating countries and sponsors: Timeframe: January 2012 – December 2013 ECELP PROJECT SETUP
STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION Current National Policies CARICOM Regional Policy General Policy basis for Standards and Labelling Display of Labels DSM activities Short- and medium-term policies Accompanying measures Discussion points
NATIONAL POLICIES Banning of inefficient light bulbs (SVG) Preventing import of low-quality CFLs (SVG) Labelling of appliances (SVG, SKN, DOM, GND) Restricted import of non-complying appliances or extra-taxation (SVG, SKN) Consumer information and awareness (SKN, DOM, GND, ANT) Fiscal/financial incentives for EE equipment (SKN, DOM, GND) Demand Side Management programme (SLU, SKN) Energy Efficiency Act / National Energy Efficiency Programme (GND)
CARICOM ENERGY POLICY (DRAFT) Member States will …. conduct Demand Side Management programmes; support the development and implementation of a Regional Strategy on Energy Efficiency; establish a regional collaboration mechanism with organizations such as CROSQ for the creation and implementation of standards and labeling for energy consuming equipment, electrical appliances and vehicles and adopt and enforce such strategies at a national level; enact energy efficiency legislation;
GENERAL POLICY BASIS FOR S&L Standards and Labelling should be part of a wider Energy Efficiency Policy and Energy Efficiency Act. Minimum Energy Performance Standards should ban low-efficient appliances from the market (step-wise approach). Labelling should become mandatory with clear indication of starting dates.
OBLIGATION FOR RETAILERS ON DISPLAY OF LABELS (I) Content: Labels will have to be displayed on all selected appliances if country of original destination requests a mandatory label. Question: Is this sufficiently precise to prevent loopholes ? Information on energy consumption has to be included in all promotional campaigns (e.g. newspaper ads and TV spots). Retailers (or manufacturers ?) have to “translate” EE labels into commonly understood and comparable parameters, using conversion factors for refrigerators/freezers measured under different testing conditions and using average household tariffs applicable in the Member States (or average for all OECS countries = about 1 EC$/kWh). Remark: Introducing a conversion factor for comparison of e.g. U.S. tested and EU tested refrigerators is highly controversial.
NON-COMPARABLE LABELS ≠ US tariff rates Measured under different conditions
OBLIGATION FOR RETAILERS ON DISPLAY OF LABELS (II) Implementation: Either regulated within the labeling standards (see the EU example; could be problematic due to the restrictions of BoS mandates), or within specific consumer protection bills, or within new Energy Efficiency Act or within voluntary agreements with retailers. Question: How can we best include existing (foreign) labels ?
MANDATORY DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES BY UTILITIES (I) Information Obligation to inform their customers about energy saving measures on or with their regular bills and through other means. Obligation to inform in their billing offices or other locations about energy-efficient appliances. Will be mandated to include in their consumer bills graphical or written information about the historical development of the household energy consumption (see LUCELEC).
MANDATORY DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES BY UTILITIES (II) Example: Temporary showroom of VINLEC 2012/2013
MANDATORY DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES BY UTILITIES (III) Will provide information on the related CO 2 - emissions on the consumer bills. Investments/Financing Will be obliged to spend at least 0.5% of their revenues for energy-saving measures on the demand side (e.g. EC$ 1.6 million in the case of LUCELEC). At least 50% of this accumulated fund money should be targeted at low-income households, e.g. for supporting the purchase of efficient appliances.
MANDATORY DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES BY UTILITIES (IV) Measures may require the amendment of Electricity Supply Acts or have to be mandated by Regulatory Bodies.
SHORT-TERM POLICIES (I) OECS level 1.Requirement for consumer information on CFL quality aspects on packages (starting 2014) 2.Step-wise banning of incandescent light bulbs (3-year transition period, ) 3.Mandatory display (and interpretation) of imported labels (starting 2014)
SHORT-TERM POLICIES (II) National levels 1.BoS will be allowed to execute random EE testing, inform about results and advise consumers on energy-efficient appliances (may require amendment of Standards Acts) 2.Energy Supply Acts will be amended to oblige utilities to execute DSM programmes and recover costs incurred.
MEDIUM-TERM POLICIES OECS / CARICOM level Introduction of mandatory regional label and minimum efficiency standards for Refrigerators/freezers (2015) TV sets (2015) Air-conditioners (2016) Fans (2017)
ACCOMPANYING MEASURES OECS (and/or national governments) 1.Sets up website that informs consumers about energy-efficient products and saving potentials 2.Provides information on energy consumption of existing appliances and assists with energy saving calculator 3.Will support awareness raising campaigns
For more information please contact: THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION
DISCUSSION Presented recommendations for policy and legislation in the regional context Presented recommendations for policy and legislation in the individual countries’ context Approaches to establish a regulatory framework in accordance with the presented policy and legislation proposals Next steps
How can import of low-efficient or non-labelled appliances be prevented ? Is it feasible to ask for quality information on all CFL packages ? Is it realistic to ban incandescent light bulbs ? What could be the future role of BoS in S&L ? Do they need a specific mandate, e.g. for doing random testing and providing consumer information ? How can obligation for display of labels be enacted and enforced ? Is common approach within OECS/CARICOM for harmonized regional S&L realistic ? QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION