A group of major companies have signed a voluntary agreement with industry organizations to "significantly improve the energy efficiency of TVs" sold in North America.

The European Union in 2021 introduced a new stricter Energy Label to specify both SDR and HDR power consumption, and further tightened energy requirements in March 2023.

The new voluntary agreement covering the US and Canada includes the following initiatives: 
Ensure that at least 90 percent of TVs sold in the U.S. and Canada by 2026 will have a standby-mode power usage of no more than 2.0 watts
Develop additional on-mode power usage commitments within a year
Retain an independent auditor to oversee and confirm the accuracy of third-party lab testing and manufacturer-submitted confidential sales data
Publicly disclose energy efficiency information

Some of these improvements would have come with no further effort required as a natural extension of the EU's rules, given that many TV models sold in Europe are also sold in North America.

In North America, consumers tend to buy bigger TVs than in Europe including power-hungry LCD TVs with full array local dimming (FALD) that can top 450W for a 75-inch 8K model and 650W for a 85-inch 8K model.


A multi-year plan
In 2020, Funai, Hisense, LG, Samsung, TCL and Vizio reached a preliminary agreement with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), ACEEE (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy) and CTA (Consumer Technology Association) to "develop and promote an updated test method for measuring television energy use".

The next step – the so-called first phase – is to implement the initiatives outlined in the previous section. LG Electronics, Google TV, Hisense, and Sony Electronics have signed up and publicly announced their support. Additional TV makers are expected to join in the future, the organizers said.

- "This voluntary agreement will ensure that new TVs sold in the U.S. and Canada will be significantly more energy-efficient, resulting in energy-bill savings for consumers every time they tune in to their favorite show or movie," said NRDC Staff Attorney Joe Vukovich. "The agreement will also address the issue of standby power, which is a massive energy waster for some TVs, in some cases causing the annual electricity consumption to skyrocket. More efficient TVs are good news for our climate too, as this agreement will result in an annual reduction of carbon emissions equivalent to the tailpipe pollution of about 2.1 million gasoline-powered vehicles."

The first phase is believed to result in savings of an estimated 58 TWh once fully realized, and believed to save consumers more than $2.4 billion annually in electricity bills. It should reduce CO2 emissions by over 10 million metric tons per year, they said.

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The second phase will be developed "in the coming year".