California passes new regulations for battery charging systems

Oh boy... my Chevy Volt and wife's Leaf are targets of the environmentalists after all I did to save the whales and atmosphere. Well, I can go 30 more miles before recharging and being illegal again.

I forgot to add 99KennyConceit and go Ron Paul ! 99guspuppet

Go away government regulators of all ilks. You are amzingly useless and energy inefficient. You are innovation killers and would have us living in the dark ages. Get real jobs. Disputes can be handled by the legal system. see 99IPPP 99guspuppet

...why did California bother to pass regulations which might be in effect for as little as one year...
How can California go broke unless the squander all their dollars on useless projects.

Most of the "efficient" switching wall-warts I've come across have horrendous RF noise disrupting primarily AM radio (including ham radio). They also pump this noise back into the line causing further pollution. I don't know where the FCC is on this, but I can't believe this level of noise legal.

California already is another Mexico !

Baldrick
This exactly what happened in California.
=====
"These neo-luddites have blocked nuclear power plant construction; they have vetoed the building of additional dams for hydroelectric power (lest some aquatic creepy crawlers be disturbed); and are nearly apoplectic in their opposition to coal- or natural gas-fired electric power plants."
mises.org/daily/592/Californias-Enemy-The-State
mises.org/daily/1954
For more details on the history of California energy crisis see "How to Create an Energy Crisis"
tinyurl.com/7bsxd2n

Brian
Please do not attempt to use facts or logic on this site, this is a right wing rhetoric site, most have never been to college. As is clear they are all for the rights of the individual, except! They don’t want to have to pay for anything; they want the Feds to subsidize their utilities.
Nobody here would believe that they don’t pay for the full cost of electricity. They think that excessive government regulation causes any utility increases. Nobody here believes that they should have to pay for any upgrades or replacement to the aging distribution infrastructure.
They all believe is the users right to not pay for anything.

Way to go, California!
=====
Californians are also making a big contribution. Under a state law passed to encourage the construction of more solar projects, NRG will not have to pay property taxes to San Luis Obispo County on its solar panels, saving it an estimated $14 million a year.
Assisted by another state law, which mandates that California utilities buy 33 percent of their power from clean-energy sources by 2020, the project’s developers struck lucrative contracts with the local utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, to buy the plant’s power for 25 years.
P.G.& E., and ultimately its electric customers, will pay NRG $150 to $180 a megawatt-hour, according to a person familiar with the project, who asked not to be identified because the price information was confidential. At the time the contract was awarded, that was about !!!50 percent more!!! than the expected market cost of electricity in California from a newly built gas-powered plant, state officials said.

I'm curious how CA proposes to enforce this rule, if that has even been considered. Will we have the 'wallwart police' kicking down people's doors to confiscate their offending chargers? Maybe they will inspect every car at those border patrol and vegetable inspection stations to make sure no one is smuggling in any offensive wallwarts.
Don't get me wrong - I think as long as people are stupid enough to leave wall warts plugged in with nothing useful connected to them (as well as leaving DVRs and TVs running with no one watching them as others have mentioned here) there will be a role for government regulation in this area. I just gots to wonder how they will enforce the rule.

Since anti-gov't posts here seem to think this is a useless/stupid change, I submit the text below.
From pp 8-9 of the document:
"The Energy Commission has determined that battery charger systems currently
consume an estimated 8,000 GWh/year of electricity (one GWh is equal to one million
kilowatt-hours of electric power). Of this 8,000 GWh, only 2,900 GWh of usable
electricity is delivered to the battery itself. The difference of 5,100 GWh of electricity is
wasted, primarily in the form of heat. This loss represents a significant opportunity for
energy savings in California.

Staff analysis of available data finds that the proposed standards will save
approximately 2,147 GWh a year in energy that is currently being wasted as excess
heat after the batteries are fully charged. Reducing the amount of wasted energy from
battery charger systems will result in a direct energy cost savings to consumers of about
$301 million per year after all the existing non-compliant stock is replaced.
The overall total energy cost savings to California consumers, from 2013 to 2028, is estimated to be $1.6 billion after all existing stock of inefficient battery charger systems are replaced with efficient chargers meeting the proposed standards."
Read on from there to see that adopting this stricter standard would reduce further cost issues by preventing the construction of new power plant(s).

If we had the time, we could investigate the investments of our legislators and regulators, to see which ones invested in things like carbon monoxide detectors prior to making them mandatory. Might be surprising. Always track the bucks, folks.

Seeing as though a large portion of the world's electronic IP is developed in California, I'm wondering if its government would pioneer this regulation in the hope that other regulators would follow their lead? Could this affect their economy favorably, as their high-tech companies would be able to catch a big portion of this newly created market?

It would take lot of off-line switching wall-warts to equal the wasted power of one single DVR. They never spin down their HDU's and are at full power 24/7. Add to that the stupidity of huge flat-screen TV's left turned on and tuned in to satellite music channels for large portions of the day. There's no handshake between DVR's and TV's to go into audio-only mode. These are things where a regulation and a few code changes could actually significant wasted energy.

You missed the CA issue it's the possibility of millions of electric cars using kilowatts of recharging power. If you had power shortages in the past - expect more now. Yes, they should tell the designers now/early what they expect of those new high power chargers.

Although there are many design issues for battery chargers, like switching from full charge to float charge, it seems that proposing a common charger for cell phones would eliminate having multiple devices plugged in and each using 0.5 watts (~5mA). 10 million devices at 1/2 watt is 5,000,000 watt-hours of wasted energy EVERY HOUR. My new I-Phone has to be charged every night, so it consumes power for some few hours each night. Every phone type has a different charger. Every electric drill and portable power tool has a different charger and many never switch to standby. I did not read the full requirements, but the industry needs a little push sometimes to make a tradeoff between profit and efficiency. Is it necessary? Time will be the judge.

Does not California have more important things to legeslate, or should I say delegislate? Another sign that our governments are an out of control, bloated, self serving institution.

I have a more serious proposition: why not pass a law that small chargers should be powered from solar panels? It's good, clean and will allow a multimillion dollar industry to come up!
Seriously, guys: it just shows how seriously the government is taking its role: like here in Israel when somebody banned motor operated leave blowers from gardeners. Of all tools used,al having gasoline small motors they bent down to that ones!
This is one example of an administration doing Kalifornication, like J. Williams' so aptly put it in his letter!
I think more of us should read Mike williamson's "Freehold" in order to understand what's really happening within governments in general. Its ugly and going downhill all the way.
lte's get smart: power grid losses due to poor maintenance are much greater than than what can be saved with such crackpot measures!
64zbf

After getting screwed out of 12-20 billion dollars by the energy companies (and suffering through rolling brownouts), it is appropriate for the state to find ways to conserve energy.
California has about 12 million households. Assuming only one charger per household saving a few watts would still be a lot of energy that doesn't get wasted. The feds have a solid record of doing nothing until California makes a law. Then they come in and water it down with their own version.

Out come all the libertarian whiners that love to waste our resources. Couldn't care less about the planet or even saving money.
Love them their global warming and running out of stuff.

It looks like this new rule, like many rules found only in California, was the result of acting on emotions instead of rational consideration. A far better rule would have been to outlaw electric water heaters, since they consume huge amounts of power, and since an alternative choice has been available for at least 50 years.
Of course, using more efficient chargers is a good idea, but they could produce almost as much energy saving by passing a law that people had to unplug, or switch off, the chargers when they were not in use. That law might be hard to enforce, however.

Now the state of California sees fit to regulate small battery chargers. While they may not be very efficient, the cost of replacing them with more efficient ones is quite high, on a personal basis.
But that is no concern for the government of California, where most of the laws are passed on the basis of emotions, rather than rational thought. For those who may not agree with that assertion, just look at all the laws that are unique to California. Do you really believe that they were passed based on rational thinking???
We have been reading about improved efficiency battery charging ICs in EDN for at least five years, and now many of the chargers and wall wart power modules do use switching regulators, so change is happening, and will continue to happen, and the proliferation of vampire loads may shrink. But a far greater reduction in power consumption would come from eliminating electric water heaters, electric heat home furnaces, and then possibly electric air conditioners. Of course eliminating the cooling would allow vast portions of that state to return to nature, which would possibly be a great improvement.
My point is that there are some very large sources of waste that should be removed before starting on the smallest ones.

Here in Australia we outlawed conventional lightbulbs and are stuck with either halogens or compact fluros. The old bulbs used to cost about 10 cents each. Now a bulb costs $3.00 or more. Sometimes this just doesn't make sense like if you don't use the area often. However, I think the bulb manufacturers are very happy and the goats in government are probably patting themselves on the back. Say goodbye to your el-cheapo chargers people of California, this law will increase the cost of your chargers ten fold and return nothing.

First they attack wall warts, destroying hundreds of millions of dollars of intellectual property, tooling, UL qualification costs, etc. And now battery chargers. Are they saving the world? Hardly. A cell phone charger running at 500mA continually will consume 1800 watt hours, 30 cents worth of electricity. But of course they only consume this much during the bulk charge. They are not willing to lift one small finger to help fund the chaos caused by these regulations, and so they have nothing to stop them from their tyrrany. I didn't vote for these idiots, yet I have to bow to their tyrrany. Why does the state of california have their own energy commission? To give politicians more treasure to reward to their cronies.

Budget cuts are looming in the Great State of California. Bureaucracies far and wide are looking for a raison de l'existence. A piece of "Regulational Obstructionism"? Who knows - reality never sets in Sacramento...,

Re: more government regulations - D. Hambley and others - all you who feel that the government has no role in trying to reduce the growth in power consumption - I will agree that you may have a valid point as soon as you volunteer for a new power plant in your back yard. Until that happy day the government does as it should - mediate between competing interests in the public good.

I’m constantly amazed by the number of technophobic luddites who read these articles, you guys surely do have a university degree (a mail order degree does not count).
When the US elects a right-wing ideologue who removes all regulation, you will see a big change in the country. You in only a few short years you will be another Mexico. Polluted air and water importing any junk the rest of the world wouldn’t use.
The US is already lagging behind EU, Japan and even China when it comes to standards, well done everybody.

Did I ever advocate no security? I think not. If we spend less on energy, then we can save many times the amount by not using military means to protect energy supplies from far away places that are run by people who do not like us. (Go Ron Paul!!) The end result is a better economy and a far more secure USA. Are you for that?

That's what we need. More regulations to obselete the old and higher prices on the new.
Let's regulate that you can only charge your battery during certain hours.
Oh, we're getting that too with the smart grid.

Did I ever advocate all security? I think not. The economy and national security are complementary. So what's your point?

Margery, It would have been nice if you were able to interview the director of the California CEC, Robert Oglesby. While we hear continual shouts of "less government" from both the left and right, it would be interesting to get Mr. Oglesby's opinion on why we need more government regulations.

All security, also no economy. Ergo, not so simple. (N. Korea is good example.)

Very simple: No security, no economy.

To J. Williams: When has "the economy" ever been a consideration when spending on anything related to national security?

Rational(?): What about the economy? The best "energy policy" in the world is worthless if there is no economy to support it and ensure the security of the nation. This is exactly the kind of dangerous talking points from the left.

It takes only two words to provide a Constituational reason for the government to set energy standards: national security.

If we're down to regulating battery chargers, then can we safely assume that we have reached nirvana on energy conservation? Really, people, this is stupid and assinine on its face. California is notorious for overreaching on its regulations. This is why so many companies are leaving the state--it's impossible to meet each and every little nitpicking regulation and still run an efficient business. California needs to severely trim its EPA, sunset most of the existing laws, and renew only those that are truly needed for environmental protection. The regulators have run out of things to regulate, and they are desperately attempting to justify their own employment by passing more and more ridiculous regulations.

I left CA last year for reasons like this.
The "Golden State" is not anymore. I'm trying the Silver State.
CA, the 2nd biggest government in western hemisphere is so hopelessly bloated there is probably no way out but collapse.
Perhaps a new constitutional convention (would be 3rd?) could give a chance to start anew. If somehow the state gov't parasites can be stopped from just getting back on the gravy train. Viva Las Vegas!

People in government seem to believe that they should control and micromanage the world, like we are all slaves or robots living at their pleasure. Complementary, many people seem to like to live as puppets, doing exactly and only what they are told to do, and being confident that nobody else will do anything different. As a society we seem to have lost a sense of right and wrong, where everyone and the judges & juries knows what is right and what is wrong and can live together. We need government to legislate every little thing. And we all go along. Every little excercise of authority builds that authority. So even if a law is not needed, it is constructive to put a controversial law in place because it reinforces and consolidates your power. It conditions the masses to submit, and to look to you (government) to do their thinking for them. How often do YOU sharpen your pencil? I think we need a law to be sure that you are writing with a sharp pencil (Since a dull one may make it harder to read, and we need the government to ensure that we deliver adequately readable warrenty cards to the tire manufacturers so that they can have documentation to avoid taking responsibility for defective products), but not too sharp (which may rip the paper and increase your carbon footprint, not to mention the added shavings to the waste stream)!

Hooray for California. The federal government should butt out. I think every state should adopt its own battery charging system regulations. Think of the jobs created for CMs, distributors, and of course enforcers--we can't have those Nebraska-spec wall warts getting their dirty carbon footprints all over my state.
Seriously, though, why does government need to get involved at all? Are consumers too stupid to look for a UL label? It's doubtful that such consumers ought to be plugging things into an electrical outlet.
Let me bring you to the future, where two consumers are examining chargers at their local big box e-store...
"When I absolutely must see something on PBS, I only use LEED-certified chargers." (sniff sniff)
"Hah! Well I CARE about MY earth, you Philistine! That's why I only use Eco-Weenie iSuper-Plus chargers, WITH the hamster adapter."
&scene.
See? The problem takes care of itself. No intervention necessary.

We leave all our chargers plugged in. The consumption is totally down in the noise to the point of unmeasurable. If the fridge(s), dryer, or the A/C isn't running, the meter is for all intents and purposes is virtually stopped. Here are the biggest consumers of electricity roughly in order of consumption for most households:
1) Air conditioning (if you need it, like we do in the humid south and mid-Atlantic states, not to mention the scorching southwest)
2) Hot water (if electric)
3) Clothes dryer (if electric)
4) Refrigerator (even though it may only be a couple hundred watts when the compressor is running, it's plugged in 24/7 and running some relatively constant duty cycle)
Be careful of cheap watt meters. They can give false power readings. Some folks think their chargers are consuming more power than they really are because of the poor power factor of many small electronic devices and the el cheapo watt meters just multiply the current by the voltage and give you apparent power which is only true power for purely resistive loads.
I use the "hand" test to see if I have a power "vampire". If nothing is plugged into the charger and it doesn't feel warm to the touch, then it isn't wasting enough power for me to even worry about. There are those who swear by these power meters but they may just be wearing the emperor's new clothes.
If I had electric hot water, I would seriously consider thermal solar collectors and an 80 gallon storage tank in series with the standard hot water heater to knock off some of those kW-hrs. That situation probably has the fastest pay-back of any of the systems.
The new Kalifornia measure is just a bunch grandstanding because most new chargers and wall-warts are very energy efficient. These folks seem to get off by throwing their weight around and piously spouting how efficient they are, damn the torpedos and full speed ahead without really understanding the situation or even the true effects of their measures. But it makes them feel good.