ENERGY STAR Day 2022 is upon us! October 12th serves as a reminder of how ENERGY STAR helps consumers “Save Today, Save Tomorrow, and Save for Good.” But what exactly is ENERGY STAR Day, and how can independent retailers leverage the day in their own marketing efforts?

ENERGY STAR Day is an opportunity for retailers and consumers to put an emphasis on the sale and purchase of ENERGY STAR products — an act that helps fight climate change and greenhouse gas emissions while saving consumers money on their energy bill over the life of ownership.

In 2021, more than 90 percent of American households said they recognize the ENERGY STAR logo. Further, within the past year alone more than 56 percent of consumers said they purchased an appliance because it was an ENERGY STAR-labeled product. This is a massive opportunity to capitalize on high brand awareness and understanding.

This year, ENERGY STAR Day places a particular emphasis on serving those customers with limited resources, access, and/or other affordability matters. ENERGY STAR-certified products have more features and a higher average ticket than the average appliance. This creates a great opportunity to improve a retailer’s bottom line but has perhaps traditionally priced out those consumers who viewed ENERGY STAR products as too expensive.

So how do retailers access those consumers who may not be able to afford higher quality and higher efficiency products? The ENERGY STAR national team, working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Nationwide Marketing Group, have created various opportunities offering consumers with limited affordability matters access to these innovative, energy-efficient ENERGY STAR certified products. Some of these opportunities include:

• Vendor promotional incentives throughout the year that offer consumers the opportunity to cash in on mail-in rebates on kitchen and laundry packages
• Expanded SHIFT TO ENERGY STAR exclusive incentives that are offered in select Nationwide Member stores that target improved affordability of ENERGY STAR refrigerators and washers
• The recently announced ENERGY STAR Whole Home Upgrade program
• And the recently renewed Inflation Reduction Act that offers consumers tax credits for qualifying ENERGY STAR purchases

SHIFT TO ENERGY STAR and Federal tax credits go hand-in-hand. SHIFT to ENERGY STAR is a great program offered in select utility regions that provides a trailing credit incentive to retailers and/or consumers to help bridge the affordability gap. They are designed to assist dealers in reducing the cost for the consumer. The best part about these programs is that Nationwide manages them for our Members! We find them, register you, and get you paid with minimal effort on your part.

Federal tax credits for residential energy efficiency and those for builders of energy efficient homes were extended retroactively, through December 31, 2022. Tax deductions for energy efficient commercial buildings allowed under Section 179D of the Internal Revenue Code were made permanent under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This provides another great opportunity to drive sales and get more customers to purchase an ENERGY STAR product.

ENERGY STAR is a great program that helps consumers save on their utility bills, retailers improve their bottom line, and help reduce carbon emissions helping to reduce climate change while helping affordability challenged consumers access the same great products as those more fortunate than them. This is what we mean when we say Everybody Wins with ENERGY STAR.