The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) continues to garner support for its Premium™ Efficiency Electric Motor Program. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the latest to endorse the program. Also, the U.S. House of Representatives included wording in the National Energy Conservation and Policy Act that would require government agencies to use this motor specification as their procurement standard.

NEMA says that electric motors consume 10 to 25 times their purchase price in electricity each year. So even small increases in efficiency can provide energy savings that go directly to the bottom line. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that the program will save 5,800 gigawatts of electricity and eliminate the release of nearly 80 million metric tons of carbon emissions over the next decade.

Publication date: 10/01/2001