Impacts Evaluation of Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards in Mexico since 2000 Technical Report

Since its launch in 1994, Mexico’s national energy efficiency standards and labeling (S&L) program has expanded to include regulations for 26 major appliances, equipment, and building components  in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. 
The impacts of a standard on mini-split air conditioners that was implemented in 2011 were also analyzed and quantified. A clear improvement in the average efficiency as a result of the standards was observed over the period analyzed: the average efficiency of Mexican refrigerators increase by 17% or 27% depending on product class, about 4% for window air conditioners, and over 7% for split system air conditioners. As a result of these standards, we estimate savings of about 5 TWh of electricity per year in 2014, roughly equivalent to two 500 MW power plants. Given the electricity generation mix during this period, we estimate that about 23 million metric tons of CO2 were avoided through 2014.