S-458                 _______________________________________________

                                          SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 8002

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Senators Williams, Benitz, Owen, Stratton, Smitherman and Moore

Read first time 1/20/87 and referred to Committee on Energy & Utilities.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, Appliance efficiency has been a subject of national interest since at least the energy crisis of the early 1970's; and

          WHEREAS, The United States Department of Energy has failed to establish appliance efficiency standards in spite of federal legislation passed in 1978 requiring such standards; and

          WHEREAS, A coalition of appliance manufacturers and environmental organizations has worked together to develop the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act which establishes energy conservation standards for major residential appliances; and

          WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States unanimously passed the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1986, only to have that legislation pocket-vetoed by President Reagan; and

          WHEREAS, The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 has been reintroduced in the current term of Congress; and

          WHEREAS, The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act would save consumers nationwide as much as $28 billion through the year 2000 and would cut peak electrical demand by as much as 22,000 megawatts, the equivalent of about twenty-two large power plants; and

          WHEREAS, Regionally, appliance efficiency standards will allow the Northwest to have more of its energy needs served by inexpensive hydropower, delaying the need for construction of costly new generating resources; and

          WHEREAS, Due to the twelve to twenty-two year useful life of appliances, appliance efficiency standards represent a means of capturing cost-effective conservation opportunities which would otherwise be lost for a significant period of time; and

          WHEREAS, Appliance efficiency standards will greatly enhance the certainty and reliability of future energy demand projections, reducing the probability of forecasting errors leading to the construction of unneeded generating resources;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the United States Congress and the President of the United States support and enact into law the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.