Prayas Energy Group (PEG) released its publication titled, “A Guidebook on Super-Efficient Equipment Program (SEEP)” at a side event hosted at the fourth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) in New Delhi on 18th April, 2013.

The guidebook was prepared by PEG with financial support from the Super-Efficient Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, a multi-lateral, voluntary effort to engage governments and the private sector to transform the global market for energy-efficient equipment and appliances. The guidebook provides a road map for policy makers in different countries to conceptualize, develop and implement innovative programs on energy efficiency like SEEP. SEEP has been initiated by BEE for ceiling fans in India. The primary goal of the program is to accelerate the market transformation to super-efficient appliances and equipment in India by providing financial incentives to manufacturers through competitive bidding. In this guidebook, general framework for development of SEEP like program has been designed based on PEG’s experience through association with BEE in designing SEEP for ceiling fans.

The guidebook was released by Mrs. Jyoti Arora, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power (MoP). The occasion was graced by the presence of Mr. B. K. Chaturvedi, Member, Energy, Planning Commission. The event was well-attended with audience being officials from Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and representatives from several organizations like Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories (LBNL), Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) and Collaborative Labeling & Standards Program (CLASP).

The event started with Daljit Singh from PEG talking on the features and benefits of SEEP. He has been involved in the design process of SEEP right from its conceptualization. He highlighted the advantages of a national level program like SEEP over a local utility level Demand Side Program (DSM) in achieving a national market transformation in India. Mrs. Jyoti Arora, in her brief speech after the release of the guidebook, talked on the importance of energy efficiency in India and the initiatives undertaken by BEE. She highlighted the continuously increasing sales of household appliances in India and the need to ensure that the new appliances being added to the market are energy efficient. She also said that SEEP for ceiling is in final stages of implementation and will be launched soon. She applauded PEG’s efforts in the design process of SEEP and the initiative to write a guidebook which will enable other countries to develop similar program. After Mrs. Arora’s speech, Aditya Chunekar from PEG briefly talked on the structure of the guidebook. He also mentioned that the guidebook is in a draft stage and comments are solicited from everyone which can be incorporated in the final version which will be ready in July. The event ended with a brief discussion session.