DOE Issues Final Rule on External Power Supplies

Yesterday, the Department of Energy (DOE) finalized a technical amendments rule to formally exclude light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs and ceiling fans using direct current motors from the external power supply rule. ALA applauds DOE’s work to codify the exclusion.

This action is the result of ALA’s hard work lobbying Congress for legislative relief to a problem created by Congress. A few years back, as LEDs were beginning to take over market share, DOE, by way of a narrowly written Congressional mandate, was forced to include LEDs and direct current motors in a finalized rule on external power supplies. Leaving these products subject to that rule would have crippled public adoption and hurt DOE’s effort to achieve greater energy efficiency savings.

ALA got to work, first by requesting enforcement guidance (protection) from DOE, which DOE quickly granted, and second by lobbying Congress for a legislative fix. After multiple attempts, the EPS Improvement Act of 2017 was signed into law last year. It is this law that gave DOE the formal authority to exclude LEDs and direct current ceiling fans.