LANSING — Michigan should adopt energy efficiency standards for 15 common appliances including water dispensers, DVD players, furnaces  and walk-in refrigerators, a public interest group says.           

Mike Shriberg, director of Ann Arbor-based Public Interest Group in Michigan, is pushing for efficiency standards as one way to “cut costs, reduce pollution and wean us from imported energy sources.”

Appliance and equipment standards can be used to attack the problem of energy overconsumption by directly reducing the amount used, he said.   

Michigan residents spend more than $20 billion a year to out-of-state entities for energy from coal, oil, natural gas and uranium, according to Shriberg. This “is a very significant drain on our economy.”

A report authored by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and Appliance Standards Awareness Project cited 15 products that would result in significant energy savings and cost-effectiveness for the buyer if standards were adopted. They are already available in energy-efficient form from manufacturers, it said. 

The products also include compact audio products, pool heaters and hot tubs.. 

The efficiency standards recommended in the report would result in considerable energy savings, economic benefits and pollution reduction for the state.

For example, the amount of natural gas saved in Michigan would be enough to heat about 130,000 households. The electricity saved would be enough to meet the needs of 235,000 homes by 2020.

More than $2.5 billion would be saved in Michigan over about 20 years, the report said.

 And if adopted on a national basis, according to the report, over the next 20 years, the standards would:

--Save $54 billion for appliances and equipment.

--Cut greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equal to that emitted by 8 million cars annually.

--Save 9 billion gallons of water for generating steam at power plants.

--Save 340 billion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to meet the natural gas heating needs of 6.3 million households.

Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor,  said she will sponsor a bill that would require the state to set standards for the 15 appliances.

She said the measure is a good way to “advance environmental protection and save energy.”

Since 2004, 10 states have adopted new energy-saving standards covering between five and 30 products. Congress enacted standards for 15 consumer products in August 2005.