Massachusetts Appliance and Equipment Energy Efficiency Standards

Summary

Note: The federal government has imposed and updated appliance efficiency standards through several legislative acts,* and now has standards in place or under development for 30 classes of products. In general, states which had set standards prior to federal action may enforce their own standards until the federal standards take effect. States that had not set standards prior to federal action must use the federal standards. This summary addresses (1) state appliance standards that will be in place until the federal standards take effect and (2) products for which the federal government is not currently developing an efficiency standard. Much of the information in this summary comes from the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP). Visit the ASAP web site for comprehensive information about appliance standards. See the Department of Energy Appliance Standards website for additional information.

Massachusetts’ original appliance standards legislation was enacted in 1986. The standards were expanded in November 2005 and again in January 2021, although to date most of the equipment listed in Massachusetts law has since been preempted by federal law. Other non-federally preempted product standards introduced in 2021 with effective dates beginning in 2022 include: 

• Hot Food Holding Cabinets
• Computers and Computer Systems
• High-CRI Linear Fluorescent Lamps
• Portable Electric Spas
• Water Coolers
• Residential Ventilating Fans
• Commercial Ovens
• Commercial Dishwashers
• Commercial Fryers
• Commercial Steam Cookers
• Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment

Massachusetts sought a waiver of federal preemption from the warm-state standard because of the existing federal standards covering residential furnaces, boilers, and furnace fan. That waiver would have allowed Massachusetts’ cold-state standard to go into effect in 2013. The Massachusetts Attorney General and the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) filed the petition here. The U.S. Department of Energy responded negatively, see the Department of Energy web site for more information on the petition, comments filed, and the denial. There are no state-level appliance standards in effect in MA until the beginning of 2022.

* These acts include the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.