Program for California Energy Commission1(CEC) Friendly Motherboards

CEC - Computers Energy Efficiency Standard

Overview

The CEC has put into place a market access energy efficiency standard for all computers that will be sold into California with the manufacturing date of January 1, 2019 or after. Starting in July 2021, Desktop and All-in-One computers will have a lower power/energy limit called Tier 2. All computers must meet this new standard and be registered with the CEC to be sold into the regions that have adopted this rule. As of April 2023, there are 10 other states plus a province in Canada that have adopted this regulation with various effective dates. There are also many others states that have legislation in process to copy this standard.

Ways to Meet These Requirements

There are currently two different way to meet these energy regulation requirements.

#1 - Classify the system as TEC(Power) Exempt. One way to do this is to utilize a motherboard that has an expandability score greater than 690. An expandability score is a numerical evaluation of how many ports and capabilities the motherboard features. For example, a full size PCIe x16 slot will add 75 points to the expandability score. To find out if a motherboard has an expandability score greater than 690, and therefore is exempt, you can calculate it using this excel worksheet.

#2 – Meet TEC (Power) requirements. If the motherboard has an expandability score ≤ 690 then the system will need to be assembled with components optimized for low idle power consumption. An example of a component optimized to meet these requirements are the new ATX12VO based motherboard and power supplies, that are very efficient at idle.

The MAEDBS database is how systems get registered for the CEC Computer Regulations. All computers sold in any state or country that has adopted CEC T2 must the registered by the effective date. For more details on the ways to meet exemption and register the systems download more details.

Intel has a power supply selector program which tests power supplies against the Intel Power Supply Design Guide standard. Power Supplies that meet Revision 1.4 standard (2017) or newer will help desktop computers to meet the CEC Computer Standard.  (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/resellers/psu-selector.html)

Important details and the Legal Disclaimer for the program:

  • CEC Computer Standard requires a Typical Energy Consumption (TEC) based limit for all computers sold into the State of California with a manufacturing date on or after January 1, 2019.
    • This TEC limit is for Complete Systems, and there are no specific guidelines for individual components in the computer from the CEC Computer Program.
  • Intel has developed Power Budgets for Desktop Computers based on the Expandability Score to come up with the program for CEC Friendly Motherboard Program.
    • The purpose of the program for CEC Friendly Motherboard Program is to help promote and educate LOEMs with energy efficient motherboard selections that when used in a computer system along with other energy efficient components is more likely to comply with the CEC computers TEC Limits.
    • Motherboards are one of the main power consuming components in a computer, and the CEC Computer Category system is based on the Expandability Score of the computer, which is almost completely derived from the motherboard expansion interfaces and inter-connects. Therefore, the motherboard attributes become the basis for the category allocation for the computer configuration and the TEC limits that scale with the expandability score which is a function of motherboard expandability attributes.
    • Participants of the program for CEC Friendly Motherboard Program will have motherboards tested in accordance with Intel-drafted testing document. (available upon request.) The test will only focus on motherboard power consumption values measured in DC Watts. The tested values will be compared with Intel developed power budgets. If the motherboard meets the DC Power values, it would be listed as a CEC Friendly Motherboard as part of the Intel program. Inclusion of a motherboard on the approved list itself does not guarantee that the computer configuration the motherboard is part of, will ultimately comply with the CEC Computers standard.
    • Conversely, a given computer configuration could still meet the CEC program requirements, even if the motherboard is not part of the Intel program or does not meet the Intel-developed power budget, if the system manufacturer has made the proper tradeoffs for other components selection. Examples include a lower power storage device like an SSD or a low load efficient power supply.
    • There are other components in the system that may not meet the appropriate power budget for the computer configuration to comply with the CEC standard. Every component in the computer is important to meet system level TEC Targets.
    • The program for CEC Friendly Motherboards is currently focused on CEC’s Tier I criteria. CEC criteria will change on July 1, 2021 when Tier II criteria goes into effect. This program as currently defined could not be used for Tier II criteria. Intel would announce its plan for a Tier II program in the future.
  • Additional background and limitations:
    • This program is not endorsed by the California Energy Commission.
    • This program is only available and validated for Intel® 300 Series chipset based motherboards.
    • No pre-release, non-production quality motherboards may be delivered to Intel as part of Intel’s CEC Friendly Motherboard Program.
    • To sell computers into the state of CA, even when a motherboard from the CEC Friendly Motherboard list is used in a computer, the system integrator is responsible for conducting the computer compliance test at the system level, and register the compliant system with the CEC program. http://www.energy.ca.gov/appliances/

1This is an Intel developed program to help customers comply with the CEC Computers Standard. This program is not associated with or endorsed by California Energy Commission
2Computer types shipping to California, that are exempt from TEC requirement have to comply with other CEC energy efficiency requirements starting January 1, 2018.