Faced with the failure of the Department of Energy to set standards for nearly two dozen household appliances, 15 states, including Maine, have turned to the arena where many environmental policies are set these days – the courts. This could have been avoided if the Energy Department had done its job or, failing that, if Congress, which had originally set the standards, forced the department to implement them.

The Energy Department is as much as a decade behind schedule in setting efficiency standards for 22 common appliances devices. In 2001, the department said development of new standards for residential furnaces and boilers, commercial air conditioners and distribution transformers were “high priorities.” Since then, DOE has repeatedly missed self-imposed deadlines for advancing new standards and none have been adopted.

According to the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, adopting standards for just the three high-priority items would reduce electricity use by more than 1 percent a year. Standards already in place have reduced electricity usage by 8 percent.

Because the standards remain in limbo, the states, led by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, sued the department last week. “As oil and gas prices hit record levels … it is profoundly disappointing that the federal government has failed to adopt these crucial energy-saving standards,” Attorney General Spitzer said.

In the absence of federal action, many states have enacted their own standards. Maine failed to do so earlier this year when an appliance efficiency bill was passed by the House but not the Senate. The bill would have required that 19 products, ranging from ceiling fans to commercial washers, meet minimize efficiency standards. Switching to these appliances would save Maine residents a minimum of $16 million a year in energy costs by 2010, supporters said.

The savings would dramatically increase after that as less-efficient appliances are phased out. It would also reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. It does so with no new taxes or fees.

While it is unfortunate that Maine’s standards were not enacted, appliance standards should be set nationally. Appliance makers are right that enacting differing state laws will result in a patchwork of regulations. However, given the energy department’s failure to develop stricter standards, states have little choice but to develop their own rules or to sue to get the federal government to do what Congress mandated.