Proponents of the announcement, made during the Applied Power Electronics Conference here, believe the power supply industry can play a greater role in reducing energy consumption in many consumer and industrial electronic products. The proposal would build on the EPA's Energy Star program, currently used to identify products that meet accepted energy consumption levels.

Over a billion external power supplies are shipped worldwide each year, according to Andrew Fanara, EnergyStar Product Specifications Team Leader for the EPA, based in Washington. In the U.S. alone, the amount of electricity flowing through all power supplies, both internal and external, exceeds 207 billion kilowatt-hours per year — about six percent of the national electric bill, he estimates.

"Many power supply designs are no more than 60 percent efficient, though designs capable of 90 percent efficiency are achievable," said Fanara. The problem is exacerbated by the increasing use of portable devices such as mobile phones and laptops, all of which have their own power supplies, Fanara added.

Under the proposal, power supply manufacturers would be allowed to apply the EnergyStar label to products that meet the efficiency specifications being developed by the EPA. This labeling would give power suppliers an additional marketing tool for their products, Fanara said.

The proposed specification is expected to be in place before the end of the year, according to Fanara. If successful, additional specifications would be drafted over the next few years for internal power supplies, he added.