There’s optimism multichannel video programming distributors will embark...
There’s optimism multichannel video programming distributors will embark on a third stage of reducing power consumption by set-top boxes after an expanded voluntary agreement (VA) among MVPDs that now includes energy efficiency advocates ends Dec. 31, 2017, said two advocates.…
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They said in interviews that they have some hope that a Tier 3 for further reductions in set-top energy, following the Tier 2 in the new voluntary agreement disclosed Monday (CD Dec 24 p1), could come to fruition, though they said further VA expansion would be a long way off. Jennifer Thorne Amann, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy buildings program director, is “guardedly optimistic” for a Tier 3, she said. “We've laid the basis for a relationship where we hopefully can get there,” and now she wants to see how the industry does with the new commitments, she said. “We'll be able to keep working with them to make continued progress,” because advocates are joining the steering committee overseeing the energy savings, said Amann. “It looked like a good opportunity for us certainly to capture a larger amount of savings” for set-tops than would have occurred absent the pact and waiting for the Department of Energy’s rulemaking process, she said. DOE said Monday it’s ending that process. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has targeted version 4 Energy Star specifications for set-top boxes, had no comment Tuesday on the amended VA. “Industry was very willing to work with us to make sure we had a seat at the table” and to make continued improvements, said Amann. Any Tier 3 could start Jan. 1, 2018, said Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Scientist Noah Horowitz. Information on set-top boxes’ energy use had been in the public domain, and with the deal “now, through other forums, the information will be more readily available,” said Vice President Evan Groat of Arris, which is part of the VA. “If consumers are interested, it’s something they can look at.” At Cisco in recent years, it has “become clear that we can do better when it comes to reducing set-top-box energy consumption,” wrote Vice President Joe Chow, who runs the company’s Connected Devices unit, on the blog of the participating VA company Monday (http://bit.ly/19e9IV9). He said the amended VA is a win for saving consumers money, protecting the environment and providing “regulatory certainty for manufacturers and providers alike.”