Making 15 appliances energy efficient would significantly benefit Pennsylvanians, environmentalists say

As we face more extreme weather across the state, new research is showing that certain standards could reduce energy, while helping to save money and the environment.

According to new data from the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center, the statewide citizen-based environmental nonprofit, in partnership with the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, a national nonprofit, we can achieve the following with energy efficiency standards.

"Saving energy, saving water, cutting pollution, and lowering utility bills," said Flora Cardoni, PennEnvironment's deputy director. "These energy efficiency standards for just 15 commonly used appliances would bring significant environmental, financial and public health benefits to Pennsylvanians by 2050."

Those 15 commonly used appliances include everything from showerheads to faucets and toilets, along with commercial ovens and fryers.

They said their research shows that with the standards for these 15 appliances, by 2050, we would save more than 10,500 gigawatts of electricity, more than all the households in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia use in a year.

They also said the standards would save nearly 230 billion gallons of water, enough to fill the Eagles' stadium more than 300 times, and would cut more than 6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution.

When it comes to utility bills, they would reportedly save Pennsylvanians $7.7 billion.

"In order to achieve these savings, we need the legislature to act," Cardoni said.

So far, a bill to set minimum statewide energy efficiency standards for 15 household and consumer appliances and plumbing fixtures that are sold new passed the state House with bipartisan support, but neither that bill nor a companion one led by Sen. Lindsey Williams of District 38 has been taken up for a vote in the state Senate.

"Until we make meaningful investments in renewable energies and regulating data centers, we need to focus on cutting our energy consumption," Williams said.

According to the nonprofits, states, including neighbors in New Jersey, New York and Maryland, have been adopting these standards since the '70s, and consumers wouldn't need to switch out their products and make any changes themselves.

"It would simply work, such that when consumers buy a new product, they will be a more energy-efficient version when they're available," Appliance Standards Awareness Project state policy associate Brooke Lockwood said.

There are only nine more legislative days to get the bill added to the agenda in the state Senate.