Inefficient appliances get Energy Star label

WASHINGTON - If you bought an Energy Star appliance to lower your electric bill and get a tax rebate, you will get the rebate. But, your light bill may remain the same.

Manufacturers of dishwashers, washing machines, water heaters, refrigerators and room air-conditioners receive the Energy Star label by certifying their own appliances, unlike makers of windows, L.E.D. and fluorescent lighting products, which are certified by independent laboratories.

The New York Times obtained a copy of a new audit by the Energy Department's inspector general. It concludes that shortcomings in verification of energy efficiency "could reduce consumer confidence in the integrity of the Energy Star label." Energy Secretary Steven Chu is expected to receive the report this week.

A refrigerator manufacturer told the Energy Department that a competitor's product displayed the Energy Star label, even though it did not meet certification standards. Consumer Reports described a similar problem last year.

The audit recalls a 2007 promise by the government to conduct "retail assessments" that would check products carrying the Energy Star label. It is not yet doing so, according to the report, for doors, windows, skylights, water heaters and solid-state lighting.

Outside expert Lane Burt, a policy maker with the Natural Resources Defense Council, tells The New York Times that Energy Star has been "a tremendously successful program. It's grown by leaps and bounds, and any time you have that kind of growth, you're going to have growing pains."

But he say some of the criticisms in the audit are justified.

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