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Closing out this week’s Green Deals, we have a nice mix of Black Friday deals on backup power solutions, affordable EVs, and plenty of marked down lawn care equipment. Starting us off is the full Black Friday sale from Anker SOLIX that is taking up to $4,434 off units and bundles, like the C300 90,000mAh Power Stations that are returning to their lowest prices starting from $140. Heybike has launched its next weekend flash sale through Sunday that is taking its Mars 2.0 Folding e-bike to an $899 low. We have three different brands of lawn care equipment getting some major savings, with Worx’s Nitro LEAFJET Cordless Leaf Blower hitting a new $94 low, while EGO Power+ has its Select Cut 21-inch 56V mower with a 10Ah battery down at $700, among others. Lastly, Segway is taking up to $600 off its Navimow H series and i series Robot Lawn Mowers that start from $799. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals are in the links at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s exclusive low prices on Anker’s SOLIX F3800 power station and bundle, the full Jackery Black Friday sale, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Anker SOLIX switches to full Black Friday savings with return lows on C300 90,000mAh stations from $140, more

Anker’s SOLIX Black Friday sale has officially switched over to its full savings through November 29, giving you a chance at up to $4,434 in savings across a lineup of power stations, solar generators, and home backup bundles. There have been some updates to its early sales period and we noticed the brand’s new C300 90,000mAh Portable Power Stations hitting new low prices, with the C300 DC power station down at $139.99 shipped (matching at Amazon) and the C300 AC power station falling to $179.99 shipped (also matching at Amazon). Normally costing you either $200 or $250, respectively, we’ve only seen these rates once before, back during last month’s Prime Day event, with today’s 30% markdowns returning to slash $60 and $70 off the going rates. You’ll be getting a second chance at the best prices we’ve tracked here until Black Friday ends, as well as the opportunity to be prepared with backup power for your personal devices on trips, for everyday use, and even in an emergency. You’ll also find the brand’s new (and smaller) C200 DC 60,000mAh power station at $110, down from $170, if you wanted to save a little more too.

As a reminder, Anker is also providing free gear on purchases that reach certain thresholds. Orders over $3,000 will receive a free 200W solar panel, while orders over $4,000 will get a free EverFrost Portable Cooler 40, and orders over $5,500 will get a free 400W solar panel.

The Anker SOLIX C300 power stations build upon the successes of the PowerCore Reserve with a 90,000mAh/288Wh capacity that’s been upgraded with LiFePO4 cells. The DC model provides you with up to a 300W output for your devices through its seven ports, while reaching 280W for its self-recharging thanks to the two bi-directional 140W USB ports being used together at once. There’s also an integrated LED pop-up light on top that helps with illumination needs when you’re stuck in the dark. The AC model doesn’t boast the dual USB charging, instead reaching the same recharging speeds with one port alone plugged into a wall outlet. This model has eight port options (with it obviously having three AC ports), and has traded the pop-up light for a light bar. You can also score either of these two models with a 60W solar panel at new low prices of $190 and $230.

Anker SOLIX Black Friday clearance discounts:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday C800 power station discounts:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday C1000 power station discounts:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday F2000 power station discounts:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday F2000 home backup discounts:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday F3800 power station discounts:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday F3800 home backup discounts:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday accessory discounts:

There are two Black Friday deals elsewhere that beats out Anker’s sale here, with Wellbots having given our readers exclusive low prices on the SOLIX F3800 power station and a subsequent bundle including an expansion battery that you’ll definitely want to take advantage of while it lasts.

Heybike’s latest weekend flash sale drops its Mars 2.0 folding e-bike by $600 to $899 low for first time since February

Heybike’s Black Friday sale is well into the swing of its savings game and for the third time so far we’re getting a weekend flash sale through Sunday on the brand’s Mars 2.0 Folding Fat-Tire e-bike at $899 shipped. Usually sitting at its $1,499 full price outside of sales, this upgraded model has mainly seen discounts take costs down to $1,099 or higher, with a few select drops to $999. Today’s deal is hands-down the best we’ve tracked, which we haven’t seen reappear since February. You’ll be saving $600 here, along with a Black Friday gift pack at the all-time lowest price.

Heybike’s Mars 2.0 e-bike rolls into view with four colorway options at 28 MPH top speeds with its 750W motor – plus the 48V battery delivers a solid 45-mile travel range to boot. There is an option to upgrade to a 1,000W motor for an increased 32 MPH speed along with other performance boosts, but keep in mind it’ll tack on an additional $200 to the price tag. It offers five levels of pedal assistance to support you through longer travels, plus a nice array of features at such a low price. Alongside the foldable frame, you’ll also enjoy 4-inch fat tires for better stability and smoother rides, as well as hydraulic disc brakes for improved stopping power. There’s also a headlight and taillights with brake light functionality, a rear cargo rack, a shock-absorbing saddle, and a smart LCD display.

Heybike’s ongoing Black Friday e-bike deals:

  • Ranger S Folding Fat-Tire e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,499)
    • 28 MPH for up to 55 miles
    • 1,000W motor upgrade (32 MPH) costs $300 more
    • comes with gift pack
  • Cityrun Urban Commuter e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,599)
    • 21 MPH for up to 55 miles
    • comes with free large basket + gift pack
  • Hauler Cargo e-bike (new model): $1,399 (Reg. $1,899)
    • 28 MPH for either 55
    • Dual-battery (85-mile range) costs $300 more
    • comes with free large rear basket + gift pack
  • Brawn Off-Road e-bike: $1,499 (Reg. $1,799)
    • 28 MPH for 65 miles
    • comes with free large basket + gift pack
  • Horizon Full-Suspension e-bike: $1,499 (Reg. $1,999)
    • 28 MPH for 55 miles
    • comes with free front basket and large basket + gift pack
  • Tyson Uni-Body e-bike: $1,499 (Reg. $1,699)
    • 28 MPH for 55 miles
    • comes with free large basket + gift pack
  • Hero Carbon-Fiber All-Terrain e-bike (new model): $2,499 (Reg. $2,599)
    • 35 MPH for 60 miles
    • comes with free large basket + gift pack
Anker SOLIX Black Friday

Grab Worx’s Nitro LEAFJET cordless leaf blowers for your yard at new Black Friday lows starting from $94

As part of its ongoing Black Friday sale, Amazon is offering a Lightning Deal on the Worx Nitro 20V LEAFJET Cordless Leaf Blower for $93.99 shipped. Normally going for $170 at full price, it’s been seeing more frequent discounts in the second half of the year, with last month’s Prime Day event dropping costs to the former $95 low. That price is getting beaten here today though, as it comes in with a solid 45% markdown that saves you $76 and beats out the former low price by $1.

The Nitro 20V LEAFJET comes equipped by Worx with its brushless 2.0 motor tech and has a sonic turbine fan powered by a 4.0Ah battery, giving it a forceful jet stream of air output for your debris-clearing needs. It has a two-speed control (high and low) and two differing power modes: the volume mode clears wider areas at 410 CFM, while the speed mode produces a more concentrated airflow for heavier debris in your yard. You can also find its more powerful 40V counterpart benefitting from a 40% markdown to $151.

More Worx Black Friday deals:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday

Amazon takes $149 off EGO Power+ Select Cut 21-inch 56V mower with 10Ah battery at $700, more from $143

As part of its ongoing Black Friday sale, Amazon is offering the EGO Power+ Select Cut 21-inch 56V Self-Propelled Lawn Mower with 10Ah battery for $699.99 shipped. This combination of mower and battery would normally cost you $849 most of the time, with discounts slowing since mid-June, though we did see it hit the $649 all-time low before that in April. Today, thanks to the Black Friday savings, the price has gone the lowest we’ve seen in five months, saving you $149 off its going rate at the third-lowest price we have tracked.

Many folks are constantly on the hunt for an electric mower at an affordable rate to replace their old, worn out gas guzzlers, and this is a great opportunity as EGO Power+ is considered one of the best makers of such equipment – plus, this is quite the treat to grab it with a larger-than-normal 10Ah battery that provides a full 75 minutes of runtime. The 21-inch cutting deck comes self-propelled to assist in maneuvers around the yard, while its Select Cut multi-blade system offers interchangeability and a six-position cutting height adjustment between 1.5 inches and 4 inches. It even delivers three options of functionality, allowing you to choose between mulching, rear-bagging, or side discharges – all starting up at the press of a button for simplicity’s sake.

More EGO Power+ Black Friday mower deals:

  • 21-inch 56V Cordless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower with 7.5Ah battery: $550 (Reg. $649)

EGO Power+ Black Friday blower deals:

  • 3-speed Turbo 56V 530 CFM Cordless Leaf Blower with 2.5Ah battery: $143 (Reg. $200)
  • Variable-speed 56V 615 CFM Cordless Leaf Blower with 2.5Ah battery: $169 (Reg. $220)
  • Variable-speed 56V 670 CFM Cordless Leaf Blower with 4.0Ah battery: $220 (Reg. $269)

Other EGO Power+ Black Friday lawncare deals:

  • 24-inch 56V Cordless Hedge Trimmer with 2.5Ah battery: $175 (Reg. $220)
  • 15-inch 56V Cordless POWERLOAD Telescopic String Trimmer & 615 CFM Blower: $299 (Reg. $330)
  • 10-inch Telescopic LED Cut Line Indicator Pole Saw with 2.5Ah battery: $319 (Reg. $399)

EGO Power+ Black Friday snow-clearing deals:

Anker SOLIX Black Friday

Segway’s Black Friday sale takes up to $600 off Navimow H and i series robot lawn mowers starting from $799

Coming to us through its official Amazon storefront alongside its direct site, Segway has launched its full Black Friday savings across its Navimow H series and i series robot lawn mowers, with the Navimow H series models mostly discounted at Amazon starting from $1,299 shipped, with the other two models discounted to $1,599 and $1,999 – the latter of which can be found direct from Segway’s website matching this rate. These three higher-end models are coming down from their $1,899, $2,199, and $2,599 full price tags now, with most of the brand’s sales cutting the prices by $380 to $600 throughout the year. We last saw these $600 markdowns during last month’s Prime Day event, with them coming back around today to give you the lowest price we have tracked.

There are three slightly differing models within Segway’s Navimow H series – one designed to tackle yards up to 0.2 acres in size, one for 0.37 acres, and the last one covering 0.74 acres. The smallest one provides its services with a 180-minute runtime on a single charge, while the other two have longer 240-minute battery lives. All three deliver equal cutting height ranges from 1.2 inches to 2.4 inches, with the power to overcome 24-degree slopes with ease, as well as IP66 waterproof ratings to stand up against adverse elements, especially after inclement weather.

Unlike many competitor models on the market, the robot’s under Segway’s brand trade in the need for a perimeter wire to instead focus on RTK positioning, which works alongside the included VisionFence Sensor for enhanced navigation and obstacle avoidance. While you can certainly take over its performance through the array of smart controls, you can also just leave it to its own autonomous routines that you set, with it even returning to its charging station when the battery gets too low, starting where it left off once its back to a full battery. This is possible thanks to the guidance of its Global Navigation Satellite Systems that make sure to keep it within the set boundaries and also to track it down if it gets stuck on terrain or even swiped off your property when you’re not looking.

The brand’s two i series robot lawn mowers are also seeing repeating low prices with these savings, with one model tailored for 1/8-acre yards at $799 and matching at Amazon, while the other covers 1/4 acres at $1,039, also matching at Amazon. You’ll be receiving the same smart functionality, RTK navigation, and obstacle avoidance as the above H series models, and can get a full idea of what to expect when they arrive by reading our original announcement coverage from the beginning of the year.

Best Black Friday e-bike deals!

Anker SOLIX Black Friday

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Russia’s struggling war economy might be what finally drives Moscow to the negotiating table

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May 22, 2025

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Russia’s struggling war economy might be what finally drives Moscow to the negotiating table

Russian President Vladimir Putin tours an exhibition at the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow, Russia, April 30, 2025.

Alexander Kazakov | Via Reuters

Russia has shown little appetite for peace negotiations with Ukraine, despite Moscow making a show of what war experts described as “performative ceasefires,” and a number of attempts by U.S. President Donald Trump to persuade Russian leader Vladimir Putin to talk to Kyiv.

In fact, Moscow is widely believed to be planning a new summer offensive in Ukraine to consolidate territorial gains in the southern and eastern parts of the country, that its forces partially occupy. If successful, the offensive could give Russia more leverage in any future talks.

While Russia seems reluctant to pursue peace now, increasing economic and military pressures at home — ranging from supplies of military hardware and recruitment of soldiers, to sanctions on revenue-generating exports like oil — could be the factors that eventually drive Moscow to the negotiating table.

“Russia will seek to intensify offensive operations to build pressure during negotiations, but the pressure cannot be sustained indefinitely,” Jack Watling, senior research fellow for Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, said in analysis Tuesday.

Russian stockpiles of military equipment left over from the Soviet era, including tanks, artillery and infantry fighting vehicles, will be running out between now and mid-fall, Watling said, meaning that Russia’s ability to replace losses will be entirely dependent on what it can produce from scratch.

“At the same time, while Russia can fight another two campaign seasons with its current approach to recruitment, further offensive operations into 2026 will likely require further forced mobilisation, which is both politically and economically challenging,” Watling surmised.

CNBC has contacted the Kremlin for a response to the comments and is awaiting a reply.

Economy slowing

In the meantime, dark clouds are gathering on the horizon when it comes to Russia’s war-focused economy, which has labored under the weight of international sanctions as well as homegrown pressures, also largely resulting from war, such as rampant inflation and high food and production costs that even Putin described as “alarming.”

Russia’s central bank (CBR) has stood the course of keeping interest rates high (at 21%) in a bid to lower the rate of inflation, which stood at 10.2% in April. The CBR said in May that a disinflationary process is underway but that “a prolonged period of tight monetary policy” is still required for inflation to return to its target of 4% in 2026. In the meantime, a marked slowdown in the Russian economy has surprised some economists.

“The sharp slowdown in Russian gross domestic product growth from 4.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, to 1.4% in the first quarter is consistent with a sharp fall in output and suggests that the economy may be heading for a much harder landing than we had expected,” Liam Peach, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics commented last week.

“Such a sharp drop in GDP growth has surprised us, although we had expected a slowdown to take hold this year,” he noted, adding that “a technical recession is possible over the first half of the year and GDP growth over 2025 as a whole could come in significantly below our current forecast of 2.5%.”

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin visits Uralvagonzavod, the country’s main tank factory in the Urals, in Nizhny Tagil, on Feb. 15, 2024.

Ramil Sitdikov | Afp | Getty Images

The growth that remains in the Russian economy is concentrated in manufacturing, specifically the defense sector and related industries, and is being fueled by state spending, according to Alexander Kolyandr, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

“After three years of militarizing the country, Russia’s economy is cooling,” he said in online analysis for CEPA, noting that the slowdown in inflation, less borrowing by companies and consumers, declining imports, industrial output and consumer spending all pointed to the slowdown continuing.

That’s not disputed by Russian officials, with the Economic Development Ministry predicting that economic growth will slow from 4.3% in 2024 to 2.5% this year.

“The economy is not demobilizing; it is just running out of steam. That said, a drop can easily become a dive. Bad decisions by policymakers, a further dip in oil prices, or carelessness with inflation, and Russia could find itself in trouble,” Kolyandr said.

Sanctions and oil price bite

What’s particularly starting to hurt Russia are factors beyond its control, including tighter sanctions on Russia’s “shadow fleet” (vessels illicitly transporting oil in a bid to evade sanctions enacted following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine) and a decline in oil prices as a result of Trump’s global tariffs policy that is hitting demand.

On Thursday, benchmark Brent futures with a July expiry stood at $64.94 a barrel while frontmonth July U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $61.65. The last spot price of a barrel of Urals crude oil, Russia’s benchmark, was at $59.97, according to LSEG data.

At the start of 2025, Brent was trading at $74.64 per barrel, while WTI and Urals crude were trading at $75.13 and $70.04, respectively.

Russia’s finance ministry said in April that it expects 24% lower revenues from oil and gas this year, compared to earlier estimates, and lowered its oil price forecast from $69.7 to $56 per barrel. The ministry also raised the 2025 budget deficit estimate to 1.7% of GDP, from a previous forecast of 0.5%.

FILE PHOTO: Crude oil tanker Nevskiy Prospect, owned by Russia’s leading tanker group Sovcomflot, transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey September 6, 2020. 

Yoruk Isik | Reuters

A lower oil price will “severely limit Russian revenue while its reserves are becoming depleted,” RUSI’s analyst Watling remarked.

“More aggressive enforcement against Russia’s shadow fleet and the continuation of Ukraine’s deep strike campaign could reduce the liquid capital that has so far allowed Russia to steadily increase defence production and offer massive bonuses for volunteers joining the military,” he said.

If Western allies can maintain and strengthen efforts to degrade Russia’s economy, and Ukraine’s forces “deny Russia from reaching the borders of Donetsk [in eastern Ukraine] between now and Christmas,” then “Moscow will face hard choices about the costs it is prepared to incur for continuing the war.”

“Under such conditions the Russians may move from Potemkin negotiations to actually negotiating,” Watling said.

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White House crypto czar David Sacks says stablecoin bill will unlock ‘trillions’ for U.S. Treasury

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16 hours ago

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May 21, 2025

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White House crypto czar David Sacks says stablecoin bill will unlock 'trillions' for U.S. Treasury

U.S. President Donald Trump sits next to Crypto czar David Sacks at the White House Crypto Summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

President Donald Trump‘s top crypto and AI advisor David Sacks said Wednesday that the administration expects the stablecoin legislation moving through the Senate to pass with “significant bipartisan support,” and claimed it could unlock demand for U.S. Treasuries.

“We already have over $200 billion in stablecoins — it’s just unregulated,” Sacks told CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime.” “If we provide the legal clarity and legal framework for this, I think we could create trillions of dollars of demand for our Treasuries practically overnight, very quickly.”

The GENIUS Act — a bill to regulate stablecoins — cleared a key procedural vote in the Senate. With 15 Democrats voting for the bill to pass the cloture threshold this week, the proponents have the votes necessary to avoid a filibuster.

“We have every expectation now that it’s going to pass,” added Sacks, though he didn’t answer a question about concerns from Democrats that there aren’t sufficient safeguards in place to keep the president and his family from profiting from legislation.

Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro

Democrats previously rejected the GENIUS Act in part on concern that President Trump’s personal cryptocurrency ventures, including his own meme coin and a stablecoin from his family’s crypto business, created an unprecedented conflict of interest.

Unlike digital assets such as bitcoin, which can trade wildly, stablecoins are a subset of cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to that of a real-world asset, like the U.S. dollar. Bitcoin hit a new record on Wednesday, nearing $110,000.

Tether, which is banked by Cantor Fitzgerald in the U.S., controls more than 60% of the stablecoin market. Deutsche Bank found that stablecoin transactions hit $28 trillion last year, surpassing that of Mastercard and Visa, combined.

Sacks, who has emerged as a powerful policy voice inside Trump’s inner circle, framed the GENIUS Act not just as a crypto breakthrough but as a national economic strategy.

“Stablecoins offer a new, more efficient, cheaper, smoother payment system — new payment rails for the U.S. economy,” he said. “It also extends the dominance of the dollar online.”

The White House has aggressively backed the effort, even as concerns mount over the president’s potential conflicts.

While Sacks sold $200 million in crypto-related holdings before taking his White House job according to a disclosure filing, Trump and his family have been leaning into building a crypto empire.

The Trumps are financial backers of World Liberty Financial, which just launched its own stablecoin — USD1 — backed by Treasuries and dollar deposits.

Abu Dhabi’s MGX investment fund recently pledged $2 billion in USD1 to Binance, the world’s largest digital assets exchange. It’s the company’s largest-ever investment made in crypto.

Still, the path to passage isn’t entirely smooth. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., added a controversial rider to the bill that would cap credit card late fees — what’s seen as a poison pill that could alienate banking allies and stall final approval.

WATCH: Trump’s growing crypto empire raising conflict of interest concerns

Trump's growing crypto empire raising conflict of interest concerns

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Trump wants to kill ENERGY STAR – here’s how that impacts you

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16 hours ago

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May 21, 2025

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Trump wants to kill ENERGY STAR – here's how that impacts you

ENERGY STAR
Image: American Lung Association

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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