ENERGY STAR Transitioning From EPA to DOE

The ENERGY STAR program is entering a new chapter: primary federal leadership is moving from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the U.S. Department of Energy. Although ENERGY STAR eliminated its fixtures and bulbs/lamps programs, it still runs programs for downlights and ceiling fans.

For lighting manufacturers, retailers, utilities and specification stakeholders, the immediate transition implication is continuity—but the transition will reshape where program decisions, trademark oversight and digital tools are managed.

A final EPA–DOE Transition Plan, issued August 28, 2026, stems from a March 3 Memorandum of Agreement that designates DOE as the program’s lead federal agency. The agencies aim to complete the overall transition within 12 months of the plan’s finalization, while the most complex IT migration is targeted for completion before July 2027.

ENERGY STAR is far more than a product label. The program is an ecosystem involving approximately 1,500 manufacturers, 1,200 retailers and 840 utilities, supporting roughly $100 billion in private markets. The program is credited with helping save the equivalent of 13% of annual U.S. electricity use.

ENERGY STAR specifications, certified-product listings, utility incentive programs, partner agreements and use of the mark have long been interwoven with product development, go-to-market planning and rebate eligibility. The federal transition therefore needs to preserve both the credibility of the label and the operational systems behind it.

The plan divides the work into three major streams.

First, EPA will transfer institutional knowledge and DOE will consolidate program leadership. That includes current and historic specifications, certification procedures, reporting processes, stakeholder-engagement records, partner agreements, outreach materials, program-impact data and trademark-enforcement information. DOE will also begin recruiting staff for essential ENERGY STAR functions, while EPA personnel provide training and operational support throughout the handoff.

Second, the agencies must execute the legal transfer of the ENERGY STAR trademarks, EPA-only partnership agreements and arrangements with foreign governments. The trademark transfer is particularly important because the mark underpins the certification and partnership system. DOE and EPA were scheduled to finalize a separate Trademark and Agreement Transfer Plan by September 1, 2026; control of the mark will move only after that plan establishes readiness, due diligence, quality-control and enforcement requirements.

Third, DOE must take over hosting of the program’s extensive IT portfolio. Systems slated for transfer include the ENERGY STAR website and Drupal content-management environment, ES Connect partner database, Portfolio Manager, Product Finder, Qualified Product Exchange, Incentive Management Platform, Help Desk and major data assets such as unit-shipment, industrial-certification and program-savings data.

The plan explicitly says DOE will lead future ENERGY STAR program updates and continue consulting stakeholders as needed. That makes DOE the central federal contact for the next generation of specifications, certification policy and program direction.

Notably, EPA has not been engaged in updating specifications since early 2025. The transition package will therefore give DOE documentation on outstanding issues and specifications most in need of review.

Existing partners should not interpret the plan as an interruption to certification or label use. DOE will receive access to core systems before full hosting migration and is expected to establish capabilities for processing new partnership agreements, responding to partner inquiries, monitoring the trademark and operating program tools.

The transition’s success will be measured less by organizational charts than by whether products continue to be certified, partners continue to receive support, listings and incentive platforms remain dependable, and the ENERGY STAR mark retains its marketplace integrity.

During the coming year, manufacturers and channel partners should monitor DOE communications closely, maintain current partnership and certification records, and prepare to participate in future specification discussions. The label’s value depends on a seamless transfer—and on DOE’s ability to preserve the technical rigor and market confidence that made ENERGY STAR a trusted efficiency label.