OTTAWA — Canadians will reduce their energy costs and support a cleaner environment, thanks to new legislation passed today in the House of Commons. The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, heralded the passing of the Harper Government's amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act, which will solidify Canada's position as an international leader in energy-efficiency standards.

"These amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act make Canada a leader on the world stage in regulating standby power," said Minister Raitt. "This legislation is further proof of our Government's commitment to helping Canadians decrease their energy costs and helping industry improve energy performance."

With this legislation, Canada will have legislative authority to introduce comprehensive standards to regulate the amount of standby power consumed by many products - such as computers, battery chargers, CD players and televisions - when they are not in use. By regulating standby power, enough electricity will be saved to power more than 300,000 Canadian homes each year, reducing the average household's electricity consumption by three to five percent.

These amendments also allow for energy-efficiency standards to be established for additional products that affect energy consumption, including windows and doors, as well as thermostats and other energy-system control devices.

Modernizing the Energy Efficiency Act complements new measures in Budget 2009, which provides almost $2.4 billion to support a cleaner and more sustainable environment, helps Canadians control their energy costs and contributes to Canada's climate change objectives. These amendments build on the Government of Canada's plan to fight climate change, which sets a course to achieve an absolute reduction of 20 percent in Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

Standby Power - When "Off" Means "On"