NCTA, CTA renew set-top energy savings agreement

NCTA-The Internet & Television Association and the Consumer Technology Association have extended their voluntary agreement on set-top box energy efficiency for a third time, through the end of 2025.

The Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Set-Top Boxes was struck in 2012 between the Consumer Technology Association, whose members make the boxes, and NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, whose members deploy them.

The associations said that since the agreement was struck, it has saved consumers $7 billion in energy costs and 39 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The renewed agreement boosts energy efficiency commitments starting in 2023, translating, by the end of 2025, to set tops that use only one third of the energy they used in 2012.

Among the signatories to the agreement are AT&T/DirecTV, Comcast, Charter, Dish, Verizon, Cox, Altice, and Frontier.

Dr. Kathleen Hogan, acting under secretary for science and energy at the Department of Energy, said DOE welcomed the extension and industry’s “continued efforts of our industry partners to improve the energy efficiency of these products and save consumers money on their energy bills.”

One energy-reducing factor has been the increasing use of laptops, tablets and smart phones to access video as an alternative to powering up a set-top. Next Tv