Newsletter

California Adopts Battery Charger Standards; Federal Rule in Pipeline

January/February 2012

On January 12, 2012, the California Energy Commission adopted new energy efficiency standards for battery chargers for a wide range of products, including cell phones, laptop computers, power tools, cameras, electronic toothbrushes, golf carts, and forklift trucks. The standard, which will reduce charger energy consumption by an estimated 40 percent, will go into effect for most of the covered consumer products by February 2013. The implementation date for forklift trucks is January 2014.

Charger and product manufacturers are concerned about the California standard because a Department of Energy (DOE) proposed federal standard for battery chargers is currently under review at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). DOE's yet-to-be public proposed rule is anticipated to be effective in the summer of 2014. The DOE proposal, once adopted, is expected to preempt the California standards, and industry should be concerned about having to meet new federal requirements soon after it implements practices to meet the new California standards.

Read Time: 1 min
Jump to top of page

Wiley Rein LLP Cookie Preference Center

Your Privacy

When you visit our website, we use cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. For more information about how we use Cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Always Active

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. These cookies may only be disabled by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Functional Cookies

Always Active

Some functions of the site require remembering user choices, for example your cookie preference, or keyword search highlighting. These do not store any personal information.

Form Submissions

Always Active

When submitting your data, for example on a contact form or event registration, a cookie might be used to monitor the state of your submission across pages.

Performance Cookies

Performance cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.

Powered by Firmseek