The ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform

Appliances, consumer electronics, and other plug loads in the home contribute an estimated 25 percent of residential electricity use. Energy efficiency programs run by utilities and other organizations have traditionally offered consumer rebates to incentivize the purchase of more energy efficient ENERGY STAR-certified options. With the success of these programs, the per-unit energy savings opportunity has decreased, and utilities struggle to justify rebate amounts sufficient to motivate consumers and attract retailer interest.

The ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform (ESRPP) is a collaborative midstream initiative of ENERGY STAR, energy efficiency program sponsors, retailer partners, and other key stakeholders, facilitated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A nationwide collaboration, the ESRPP allows participants to leverage each other’s resources and shared objectives, to avoid duplication of effort and redundancy across neighboring service territories, and to streamline operations. The focus is asking retailers to take a more comprehensive view of energy-efficient products and providing them with incentives from utilities and other energy efficiency program sponsors to change their inventories to sell increasing numbers of ENERGY STAR certified products. In the long term, the ESRPP is expected to offer a gateway for energy efficiency programs to capture energy savings in the growing “miscellaneous/plug load” product categories at a significantly lower cost than current programs incur.

Who Is Participating

Sixteen program sponsors are participating and coordinating efforts in program year 2020, encompassing more than 18% of the U.S. market. ENERGY STAR certified models in five product categories are being promoted by program sponsor-labeled signage in more than 1,000 stores. Going forward, the goal for large-scale market participation – to serve more than 30% of the US population – is a key milestone in the ESRPP vision to transform the market for energy efficient consumer products.

Select Resources

Evaluation, Measurement and Verification Resources for ESRPP

ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform Overview (PDF, 384 KB)

This document provides a high-level overview of ESRPP core program elements, operating processes and references to resources and tools to support ESRPP program management.  Information in this document includes guidance for program managers to effectively implement ESRPP and to get the greatest benefits from the collaboration with other ESRPP Program Sponsors, participating retailers and ENERGY STAR.

ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform 2017 Progress Report (PDF, 137 KB)

This document looks at the key indicators from the 2017 program year and provides a high level snapshot of accomplishments, evaluation status, and lessons learned.

ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform 1-pager (PDF, 718 KB)

This brief document provides a high-level overview of the ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform and provides a good starting point for those looking to learn more about the program.

ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform Pitch Deck (PDF, 2.2 MB)

Program Sponsors and others interested in learning more about the ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform can use this document to learn more about the process, structure, and status of key program tasks. This document also provides a brief introduction to the need for change in traditional energy efficiency programs.

ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform Sample Filing Language (PDF, 346 KB)

This document is intended to serve as a resource/template for Program Sponsors wishing to secure approval for pilot/programs. It includes several key pieces of information that can be modified to reflect assumptions that are unique to individual sponsors’ service territories prior to filing.

Updated June 23, 2020