The Trump administration wants to pull the plug on ENERGY STAR, the federal program behind those familiar blue labels on energy-efficient appliances, homes, and buildings. Launched in 1992, ENERGY STAR has saved Americans more than $500 billion in energy costs while slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

To dig into what this means for everyday Americans, we spoke with Rebecca Foster, CEO of clean energy nonprofit Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), which has spent decades working to make homes, schools, and businesses more energy efficient.

Electrek: What is the ENERGY STAR program, and what are the benefits for consumers?

Rebecca Foster: It’s simple: ENERGY STAR helps customers and businesses save energy and reduce costs. The program does this by clearly labeling which products are energy-efficient options. It’s a certification of confidence – it does not dictate efficiency standards. The program was created in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and has enjoyed decades of bipartisan support. 

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The brand has become the backbone of energy efficiency across the country. ENERGY STAR is a recognized and reliable mark of efficient appliances and electronics that lower costs and improve indoor air quality. The ENERGY STAR label has also expanded to include efficiency standards for weatherizing homes and certifying when new buildings are constructed to high efficiency standards. Utilities benefit from ENERGY STAR, too – with more efficient appliances and systems plugged in, they are better able to manage the grid and decrease costs for customers.

The main benefit to consumers is significant savings through energy efficiency. A typical home can save around $450 a year on their energy bills by choosing ENERGY STAR-certified products, according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimate. Lower-income households spend a greater proportion of their budget on energy, so losing that savings will be felt especially hard by these families. Energy efficiency programs that VEIC administers, including Efficiency Vermont, Efficiency Smart, and the DC Sustainable Energy Utility, have incorporated ENERGY STAR certifications into their rebates and educational materials for decades. The ENERGY STAR certification is an easy way to let people know which products are eligible for rebates and encourage folks to choose the more efficient option by making it more affordable with incentives. Combined, these programs have delivered more than $694 million in customer incentives since 2000, resulting in over $5.6 billion in lifetime customer savings. 

Evaluations of the ENERGY STAR program show it saves US households about $40 billion a year nationwide – and has delivered about $500 billion in savings since it began. All for a program that costs the government just $30 million annually. According to the Consortium for Energy Efficiency‘s 2022 survey, where I worked for over a decade prior to joining VEIC, nearly 90% of US households report recognizing the ENERGY STAR label and almost half (45%) report knowingly purchasing an ENERGY STAR-certified product or home within the last 12 months.

Electrek: How would ending the ENERGY STAR program hurt consumers at a national and regional level?

Rebecca Foster: Efficiency labels and education from ENERGY STAR leads to more affordable energy bills for customers. Ending the program means less clarity and guidance for how to choose the more efficient option, which means higher costs month after month. Households are increasingly opting for more efficient, all-electric clean technologies like cold climate heat pumps for heating/cooling and EVs for their transportation needs. That means efficiency will become even more important for households to maintain lower electricity use. So, losing ENERGY STAR now will really cost Americans more in the short and long term.

Regionally and on a local level, getting rid of ENERGY STAR could disrupt energy efficiency programs run by states, utilities, and third-party administrators that rely on the ENERGY STAR label for rebates. It could also hurt manufacturers, distributors, and contractors who have built their businesses around providing and installing more efficient equipment. Existing lists of qualified products will quickly become out of date as new models and new technology enter the market. We could see programs in different states or run by different entities come up with confusing or competing standards for their rebates, making it more difficult for people to save energy. 

All of these impacts hurt consumers, especially at a time when families and businesses are already struggling to keep up with rising costs. 

Electrek: What sort of impact would ending this program have on the grid?

Rebecca Foster: A stable electric grid is more important than ever as we see growing electricity demand due to data centers and AI and an increasing reliance on electricity to meet more of our daily needs. ENERGY STAR has been the backbone of energy efficiency across the country for decades, and it’s delivered the more efficient lighting, appliances, and heating systems that are in use today in countless homes. Efficiency is a major reason why US electricity demand has been flat for the last two decades, according to the EIA.

As we see the electrification of our transportation and heating sectors, we’re also going to see unprecedented growth in electricity demand – an 11% increase in New England alone over the next decade, according to ISO New England. That’s part of a 50% increase in demand nationally by 2050, according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

Losing ENERGY STAR would slow down and complicate management of the grid because efficiency contributes to a stable and optimized grid. It also helps avoid the costly expansion of transmission projects by reducing demand without asking customers to make large behavioral changes. 

A more efficient grid can also avoid investing in new fossil fuel power generation, like natural gas power plants, helping meet state and regional goals for clean energy and emissions reductions. ENERGY STAR is a great tool for realizing an efficient, electrified future. Ending the program will put a greater burden on grid operators and utilities by taking away one of the most effective tools in the toolbox for addressing rising energy demand: customer participation.

Rebecca Foster is VEIC’s CEO. Heading up the executive leadership team, Rebecca guides the nonprofit’s strategic planning, business development, and performance across its contracts nationwide. With nearly 25 years of experience in the clean energy industry, Rebecca is a seasoned leader dedicated to the organization’s mission of generating the energy solutions the world needs.

VEIC is a national clean energy nonprofit that delivers high-impact energy solutions focused on equity and innovation. Since 1986, VEIC has been recognized as a leader in decarbonization strategies, working with governments, utilities, foundations, and businesses to reduce GHG emissions and create a sustainable energy system that benefits everyone.

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