News & Insights

The Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program is one step closer to continuation, thanks to NAM advocacy to secure funding in a bicameral appropriations measure released this week (GREENWIRE, subscription).

What’s going on: The text of the funding bill, which provides annual appropriations for the EPA, was released Monday as part of a three-bill “minibus” and “would set aside about $33 million this fiscal year for ENERGY STAR, the energy-efficiency rating program for appliances.”

• The voluntary NAM-supported program, which the EPA reorganized in 2025, establishes efficiency thresholds for a variety of products and materials, such as washing machines and air conditioners, and allows manufacturers to place the program’s logo on items that meet the criteria.
• The NAM has called ENERGY STAR “a critical and popular voluntary program that benefits manufacturers that make more energy-efficient products.”

There’s more: The funding bill, which still requires full congressional approval, also supports two water-conservation programs: WaterSense and Trash Free Waters.

• “WaterSense partners with manufacturers, local governments and others on voluntary water-saving initiatives, while the latter program seeks to keep trash and debris out of oceans, lakes, rivers and estuaries.”

Our view: Manufacturers and consumers benefit from the ENERGY STAR program’s continuation, the NAM and allied groups told legislators last June.

“Electricity saved by ENERGY STAR helps free up space on the grid needed so the U.S. can lead the world to power and grow artificial intelligence, support the burgeoning crypto asset industry and bring more manufacturing plants back to our shores,” they said.