On August 28, the Department of Energy released a joint transition plan developed with the Environmental Protection Agency to outline how primary agency authority for ENERGY STAR will transfer from EPA to DOE.
Both agencies have supported the program since its inception and in March announced that primary authority would be transferred to DOE. Here’s what’s in the transition plan:
The plan outlines several phases for finalizing the transition, and three main work streams: Knowledge transfer and programmatic leadership, trademarks, and IT systems. Major operations and programmatic leadership will move to DOE within the next month, prior to the end of the current fiscal year. A full transition of all operations, trademarks, and IT systems is currently expected to be completed by the end of July 2027. During this time, DOE will also work to transfer program knowledge from EPA staff experts to DOE staff.
“We appreciate the DOE and the EPA’s strong focus on preserving and supporting ENERGY STAR as lead authority transitions to DOE,” said Jenna Hamilton, VP of National Affairs at GBI. “The outline in the plan provides the private sector with a needed timeline to anticipate when the changes will take place, and we hope that the Department and Congress will be able to work together to smoothly transition ENERGY STAR appropriations to DOE to avoid program disruptions. ENERGY STAR is an important marketplace tool for buildings in the private sector, and GBI appreciates the work done by the DOE and EPA teams to design a transition and new home at DOE that recognizes its importance.”
GBI will continue to monitor this work, including the response from Congress, which must approve funding transfers through its annual appropriations process.
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