Cable Efforts ‘Erode’ DOE Rationale for Set-Top Efficiency Mandates, NCTA Says
Set-top boxes with a “deep sleep” feature that will further improve energy efficiency will be ready for field testing in 2014, the NCTA told the Department of Energy. Opposing federal mandates on the energy uses of boxes, the association said cable operators are deploying boxes with “light sleep” capabilities and providing software upgrades to embed that feature in existing boxes, which is projected to save 350 kilowatt hours in the first year. NCTA last week commented (http://xrl.us/bmy52a) on a DOE rulemaking on possible efficiency standards for set-tops and network equipment after a finding that the devices are covered products under the Energy Act.
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The cable industry is “delivering dramatic increases in energy efficiency,” the association said, which “substantially” undercuts the DOE’s rationale for “imposing energy efficiency mandates, as well as the legal underpinnings for any rules it could adopt.” Any federal mandate will “impede innovation and investment” in efficiency technology, NCTA said. The DOE’s determination is based on “inaccurate information” and “fails to recognize the cable industry’s strong and demonstrated business incentives for efficiency,” it said. Instead of seeking to impose regulations, the DOE should focus on “what the marketplace is delivering, the early returns from the cable industry’s recently announced energy initiatives, and expert projections that the number of deployed set-top boxes will likely peak and decline as operators shift to IP-based, network-based, and other alternative solutions,” the NCTA said.
The Natural Resources Defense Council said the DOE must consider inclusion in its rulemaking of over-the-top set-tops such as those used by Apple TV, Roku and Slingbox, after gathering data on their power use. In developing test procedures and standards, the agency should “attempt to include all the equipment provided by the service provider that is related to receiving/playing the paid video content,” NRDC said. For satellite systems, this should include low noise blocks, which now consume about 2-3 watts continuously, the group said. For pay TV provided by telecom companies, an optical network terminal (ONT) is installed in homes, it said. “This ONT may consume as much as 24 W continuously or more annual energy than some DVRs.” As data and phone service might also flow through the ONT, the DOE could consider only a portion of the ONT’s energy toward the set-top, the council said.
With the DOE’s rulemaking schedule showing that the earliest possible effective date for a set-top box mandate is mid-2018, the DOE should not only consider the energy use and efficiency of today’s boxes but also “review potential efficiency upgrades that can be made during this long time period,” NRDC said. “While a highly efficient STB might be on the market today, it is highly conceivable that dramatically lower power consuming devices could be brought to the market within the next few years.”