Industry and energy efficiency advocates collaborate in two historic initiatives to make set-top boxes and residential broadband equipment more energy efficient, saving consumers money and reducing carbon emissions from power plants in a manner that also promotes flexibility and innovation.

• The Set-Top Box (STB) Voluntary Agreement, established in 2012, covers the set-top boxes that consumers obtain from cable, satellite, or telephone companies that service more than 90% of the U.S. pay-TV market.
• The Small Network Equipment (SNE) Voluntary Agreement, established in 2015, covers Internet modems, routers, and other equipment that deliver broadband service to more than 85% of the U.S. residential broadband market.

These award-winning programs have been heralded by the U.S. Department of Energy for “sav[ing] families money by saving energy, while delivering high quality appliances for consumers that keep pace with technological innovation,” and by the International Energy Agency’s Global Commission for Urgent Action on Energy Efficiency for promoting energy efficiency without placing “a ceiling on innovation” or “compromising … competitiveness.”