Trump Authorizes PASS Act, Exempts Security Systems From DoE Energy Restrictions
President Trump signed the Power and Security Systems (PASS) Act that exempts security systems from having to abide by DoE’s no-load energy restrictions.
President Donald Trump (pictured signing previous legislation) has signed into law legislation that allows security equipment to bypass the U.S. Department of Energy requirements to carry "no-load" in an energy efficiency mode.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed into law the Power and Security Systems (PASS) Act, P.L. 115-78, culminating a yearlong effort led by the Security Industry Association (SIA) to preserve an important provision in federal energy efficiency requirements critical to the operation of security and fire alarm systems.
“The PASS Act provides much-needed certainty to manufacturers, installers and service providers who are among thousands of Americans that work in the security industry,” SIA Director of Government Relations Jake Parker says. “But ultimately it benefits the millions of American consumers that depend on such security and life safety systems.”
Drafted with assistance from SIA and in collaboration with the energy efficiency community, the PASS Act extends a policy exempting security and life safety external power supplies (EPS) from having to meet a “no-load mode” energy efficiency standard, since they must always be connected and in active mode by design and no efficiency gains would result.
The new law makes the exemption essentially permanent by removing the July 1 expiration date on the exemption and providing the U.S. Department of Energy with authority to retain the common-sense policy in any future updates to energy efficiency standards governing external power supplies.
SIA led a coalition of industry groups in working with Congress to secure the exemption in 2011, which included a “sunset provision” — a common way of ensuring a new policy set forth in legislation is reviewed by Congress before becoming more permanent.
Preserving the exemption was a key concern for security manufactures and systems integrators. Without it, product redesign and adjustments to manufacturing processes would needlessly increase the cost of the equipment by 200% to 300%, according to industry estimates, affecting not just manufacturers but the entire value chain.
Enactment of this solution would not have been possible without the bipartisan leadership of the bill’s sponsors, Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., as well as Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Susan Brooks, R-Ind. In the past two years, Gardner, Welch and Brooks have been recognized with SIA’s Legislator of the Year award for their support of this and other policies important to the security industry.
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About the Author
Jason Knott
Jason Knott is Chief Content Officer for Emerald Expositions Connected Brands. Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990, serving as editor and publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He joined CE Pro in 2000 and serves as Editor-in-Chief of that brand. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He has been a member of the CEDIA Business Working Group since 2010. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California. Have a suggestion or a topic you want to read more about? Email Jason at jason.knott@emeraldexpo.com
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