USPublished: 28 August 2026

[Regulatory Update] US ENERGY STAR: leadership transfers from EPA to DOE — operations and IT infrastructure to migrate in phases by 2027

Source:U.S. EPA — ENERGY STAR

On 3 March 2026, the US EPA and the Department of Energy (DOE) signed a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the ENERGY STAR programme. The MOA sets out an arrangement under which DOE becomes the lead federal agency for ENERGY STAR going forward, running the programme in cooperation with the EPA and others. This does not mean that all functions were transferred immediately on 3 March. Partner agreements, trademarks, IT systems, databases and other elements are to be transferred in phases under a transition plan drawn up by the two agencies. The two agencies released the transition plan on 28 August 2026 and state that the complete transition of the programme, including the IT portfolio and associated databases, will occur by July 2027.

Editor's View

ENERGY STAR is an important voluntary label indicating the energy performance of products in the US market. This change should be understood not as a change to the product standards themselves but as a change in the governance architecture — who administers the programme and how. Companies that treat their US-market products as subject to ENERGY STAR need to keep monitoring operational changes not just to the standards but to partner arrangements, certification-related information and IT systems on an ongoing basis; even where the "substance" of a scheme does not change, a change in the entity administering it changes the practical interface companies must deal with.

※ This article is based on official public information from an external source (U.S. EPA — ENERGY STAR) and has been analyzed and organized for practical use.

Primary Source (Official)