Sham products given the Energy Star

This a space heater with a feather duster, which  was called an air cleaner, won a label from the government certifying them as energy efficient in a test of the federal "Energy Star" certification process.

AP Photo/GAO

 

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Imagine the scene. Employees of the government General Accountability Office get together to test the Energy Star certification process. They stick a feather and some bug strips on a space heater and call it an air-room cleaner. They decide to come up with four phony companies and 20 bogus products in response to legislature request to test the system. You know it must have been impossible to stifle their giggles as they filled out the paperwork for a gas-powered alarm clock. The alarm clock’s size — 1 1/2-feet high and 15 inches wide — and model name “Black Gold” should have raised alarms with Energy Star, but the automated review system didn’t catch on to the deception. The program run by the Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to identify energy-efficient products to help consumers. Tax credits and rebates serve as incentives to buy Energy Star products.

Fifteen bogus produces including the air-cleaner and clock won an energy star label and were certified as energy efficient. Two of the products were rejected and three failed to get a response. The four phony GAO companies were able to become Energy Star partners, giving them access to the program’s logos and other promotional resources

“EPA officials confirmed that because the energy-efficiency information was plausible, it was likely that no one read the product description information,” GAO said.

Investigators concluded the program is "vulnerable to fraud and abuse."

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who requested the study, said that “taxpayers are shortchanged twice” when Energy Star products are not thoroughly vetted — when consumers are willing to pay more for the products, and when taxpayer dollars are spent encouraging the purchases.

Energy Star certification agencies claim to be making a shift to  more rigorous upfront screening processes. In a recent news release they announced additional testing of products and an ongoing verification program. “That’s why we have started an enhanced testing program and have already taken enforcement actions against companies that have violated the rules,” the agencies’ statement said.