EPA Presents DIRECTV with Highest ENERGY STAR Honor – 2015 Energy Star® Partner Of The Year Sustained Excellence Award

April 6, 2015 | By Business Wire News

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized DIRECTV with a 2015 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award for its outstanding leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency achievements. An ENERGY STAR partner since 2009, DIRECTV will be honored for its long-term commitment to energy efficiency in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2015.

DIRECTV earned its EPA award for consistently delivering the most efficient set-top boxes to its customers, educating consumers on whole-home solutions, and developing innovative partnerships with utility companies to upgrade older receivers to more efficient models.

In the U.S., DIRECTV reached a major milestone last year. For the first time since 2010, all new receivers purchased in 2014 were ENERGY STAR certified even as the new 4.1 requirements went into effect. DIRECTV customers have saved billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity and hundreds of millions of dollars since 2009. The total energy consumption of all active deployed receivers is down 8 percent since 2012.

Over the last year DIRECTV has made significant contributions to energy efficiency, including:

DIRECTV has maintained its strong commitment to ENERGY STAR by deploying nearly 12 million certified set-top boxes (receivers) with more than 65 million ENERGY STAR certified receivers deployed since joining the program.
DIRECTV has seen incredible market uptake for its efficient Genie^® whole-home HD DVR solution. With the Genie, a customer’s home has one central ENERGY STAR certified DVR (an HR44) that connects to ENERGY STAR certified Genie® Mini or DIRECTV Ready (RVU-capable) televisions with no additional receiver required other than the Genie. This solution reduces energy consumption by more than 40 percent relative to the ENERGY STAR certified three-room Whole-Home architecture DIRECTV offered just a few years ago.
As a Partner of the Year, DIRECTV has continued to promote this program to our stakeholders with a Public Service Announcement that has played almost 8,000 times on national TV channels such as CNN, Discovery, and HGTV.

“DIRECTV stands alone among television providers in receiving the Sustained Excellence Award,” said Romulo Pontual, executive vice president and CTO of DIRECTV. “DIRECTV’s engineering team was key to ensuring that all of our products met the new ENERGY STAR 4.1 requirements and it’s rewarding to see the impact we’ve made through our hard work and unparalleled leadership in the industry. We are proud to be recognized by the EPA for the sixth consecutive year and will continue to improve our environmental efforts in the years to come.”

Since its inception in 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped prevent a total of more than two billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2013 alone, ENERGY STAR and its partners provided more than $11 billion in societal benefits due to reducing damages from climate change.

“Through their sustained participation with ENERGY STAR, DIRECTV is helping Americans save money, save energy, and do their part to reduce our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “I applaud DIRECTV for earning EPA’s highest ENERGY STAR award, the 2015 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award, demonstrating a strong commitment to energy efficiency and to preserving a healthy planet for future generations.”

The 2015 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Awards are given to a variety of organizations to recognize their contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through superior energy efficiency achievements. These winners have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by setting and achieving aggressive goals, and employing innovative energy efficiency approaches. These awards recognize ongoing leadership across the ENERGY STAR program, including energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial, and public sectors.

For a complete list of 2015 winners and information, and more information about ENERGY STAR’s awards program, visit www.energystar.gov/awardwinners.

About DIRECTV

DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is one of the world’s leading providers of digital television entertainment services delivering a premium video experience through state-of-the-art technology, unmatched programming and industry leading customer service to more than 39 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S., DIRECTV offers its over 20 million customers access to more than 195 full time HD channels and Dolby-Digital® 5.1 theater-quality sound, access to exclusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET™, Emmy-award winning technology and higher customer satisfaction than the leading cable companies for 14 years running. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and other Latin American countries, leads the pay TV category in technology, programming and service, delivering an unrivaled digital television experience to more than 19 million customers. DIRECTV sports and entertainment properties include ownership interests and management of four Regional Sports Networks: ROOT SPORTS Rocky Mountain, Pittsburgh, Southwest and Northwest; and has minority ownership interests in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please visit www.directv.com.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR^® is the simple choice for energy efficiency achievements. For more than 20 years, people across America have looked to EPA’s ENERGY STAR program for guidance on how to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Behind each blue label is a product, building, or home that is independently certified to use less energy and cause fewer of the emissions that contribute to climate change. Today, ENERGY STAR is the most widely recognized symbol for energy efficiency in the world, helping families and businesses save $300 billion on utility bills, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by two billion metric tons since 1992. Join the millions who are already making a difference at energystar.gov.