The American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act, HR6582 may not meet what conservationists would like to have seen, but it is reported as rare for an energy efficiency bill to be considered, let alone passed. However, given the reality of climate change, energy efficiency is important. Steven Nadel, executive director of the ACEEE (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy) is quoted claiming the Bill is a "modest but bipartisan step forward, one we hope next Congress can build upon." The ASE (Alliance to Save Energy) has also approved the bill that a blend of two House bills and a Senate bill. Reducing carbon emissions and dependence on foreign oil, the bill has had the support of both NEMA (The National Electrical Manufacturers Association), and the NAM (National Association of Manufacturers) although the latter is protesting about over regulation and timelines from the EPA (Environment Protection Agency). The bill requires the U.S. DOE (Department of Energy), in collaboration with the U.S. DOD (Department of Defense) and the GSA ( General Services Administration) to develop and produce an annual best-practices report on advanced metering of energy use in federal facilities. This will enable the DOD and GSA to conserve energy by understanding how much they are using in each facility and determine what steps they can take to improve efficiency. DOD is the nationa's largest consumer of electricity. The law compels certain federal facilities to use a web-based tracking system to publish energy and water consumption data on an individual facility basis; this is in addition to existing requirements for tracking compliance with energy and water audit and savings of the measures, and benchmarking of energy use. It also directs the Energy Department to establish collaborative R&D (research and development) partnerships with other programs to support innovative manufacturing processes and ARDDC (applied research for development, demonstration, and commercialisation) of new technologies and processes to improve industrial efficiency. Industry is a large energy consumer for heating, cooling and running equipment. If industry and its equipment becomes more energy efficient, savings could be dramatic. The Act requires the Energy Department to conduct a study, in conjunction with the industrial sector, into the barriers to deployment of industrial efficiency technologies, such as electric motors, demand response, combined heat and power, and waste heat recovery, and to provide policy recommendations to overcome this. It also clarifies factors the Secretary of Energy must consider as part of the economic justification for any new minimum efficiency standard under the residential appliance and commercial equipment energy conservation program. And it also makes certain technical corrections to lighting efficiency and electric motor provisions in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. One of the energy saving provisions of the Act is establishing a uniform energy efficiency descriptor that applies to all residential water heaters sold in the USA. In addition to applying a consistent rating system for all water heaters, the bill will require the DOE to develop a test method to accurately determine the descriptor for all types of water heaters, including new advanced technologies introduced over the last few years. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Alliance to save energy (ASE) National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) National Association of Manufacturers (NAM
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