Power Integrations Inc. (San Jose, CA) Chairman and CEO Howard Earhart recently participated in a roundtable of business leaders and entrepreneurs hosted by President George W. Bush in Los Angeles. The roundtable focused on energy conservation and the various ways that technology could contribute to the efficient use of energy.
Earhart gave an interactive demonstration showing both the amount and the cost of electricity wasted by devices that people think have been turned off. The equipment was provided by Alan K. Meier, a staff scientist at Berkeley Lab in California. Meier's studies reveal that this standby power use adds up to 10 percent of the average Californian's electric bill, which is equivalent to more than five-billion watts or the output of eight fossil-fuel-fired power plants.
“We appreciated the opportunity to meet with the President, who was joined by California Governor Gray Davis and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. We were able to show how our market-leading EcoSmart technology can make a significant contribution to saving energy at no cost to consumers,” commented Earhart. “US households waste $3.5 billion of electricity a year to power products that consumers think are turned 'off.' Our power conversion semiconductors, used in virtually any kind of electronic product that plugs into a wall or requires a battery charger, can 'pull the plug' on the energy that is typically wasted by power supplies using outdated technologies.”
