Don't devalue 'A' energy label - BRC tells Europe

The familiar ‘A-G' energy labelling format for electrical goods should be retained but redefined. Adding new categories would make customers less likely to buy the most efficient products, said the British Retail Consortium.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) MEPs are due to vote on the Energy Label Directive. It would replace the ‘A' label - which encompasses all the most energy efficient products - with ‘A+','A++' and ‘A+++'.

The BRC says this will cause confusion and wreck the labels' ability to drive change in the market for electrical products. Energy-use technology has progressed dramatically since the labelling was introduced in the 1990s. Many more products now fall into the ‘A' category and there is a need to distinguish between the most and least efficient of those. But the BRC says subdividing the ‘A' category is not the way to do it.

Currently, customers are clear that an ‘A' rated product is the most efficient. Environmentally-aware customers will seek them out. Introducing a range of ratings all starting ‘A' would leave customers thinking they were all efficient.

Instead, the BRC is calling for new grades but still using the letters ‘A - C'. That means there would be new definitions for the level of energy efficiency each letter represents. So instead of ‘A+' for products with the third best energy-use ranking, those products would be labelled with a new ‘C', ‘A++' would be a new ‘B' and ‘A+++' a new - ‘A' to indicate the most energy-efficient.

The fact that the EU is retaining ‘A - G' as an indication for energy efficiency for things including, cars, buildings and lightbulbs would add to the confusion.

Bob Gordon, British Retail Consortium Head of Environment said: "A-G is a widely recognised system, which research overwhelmingly shows is easy to understand and the vast majority of European customers are aware of. There's no sense in changing it.

"Yes, we need a system that's meaningful and relevant to today's technology but that doesn't have to mean abandoning or complicating the successful system we already have. ‘A' is a clear and powerful indicator. By redefining the energy-use categories it can be kept for only the most efficient products, maintaining its power to change what customers buy.

"If MEPs really want to help customers do the right thing they should vote down this proposal."