The Energy Department admits it doesn’t properly track how Energy Star labels wind up on refrigerators, air conditioners, and other products. The labels, which are supposed to indicate a product’s energy- (and money-) saving prowess, are often based solely on info provided by the manufacturer, with no independent verification. A recently completed investigation now shows just how shockingly easy it is to get an Energy Star rating: You don’t even need an actual product.
From the NY Times:
In a nine-month study, four fictitious companies invented by the accountability office also sought EnergyStar status for some conventional devices like dehumidifiers and heat pump models that existed only on paper. The fake companies submitted data indicating that the models consumed 20 percent less energy than even the most efficient ones on the market. Yet those applications were mostly approved without a challenge or even questions, the report said.
Auditors concluded that the EnergyStar program was highly vulnerable to fraud.
Um, good conclusion. On the other hand, a product that doesn’t exist doesn’t use up any energy at all. How’s that for energy-efficiency and saving money?
The real point: If you can get one of these labels for a product that exists only in someone’s imagination, it’d seem pretty logical that you can also get a label based on data that only exists in someone’s imagination. That’s a problem, because tons of consumers are making decisions based at least partly on Energy Star labels.
Senator Susan Collins, of Maine, requested the study, and talked with the Times:
She said the ease with which the auditors had fooled the program suggested that consumers and agencies that rely on the logo were paying extra for products that might not actually save energy. “This program is extraordinarily easy to defraud,” she said.
Ms. Collins also noted that the economic stimulus bill included hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for people who buy EnergyStar products and that many government agencies were required to choose EnergyStar products if they were available.
In effect, people “are ripped off twice,” as consumers and as taxpayers, she said.
All too true.