The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. It was established on March 1, 2002, under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 (Act No. 52 of 2001). The Bureau was created to provide a legal and institutional framework to promote the efficient use of energy and its conservation, with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity of the Indian economy.
The BEE works by implementing various regulatory and promotional mechanisms. Key provisions include the Standards and Labelling Programme, which assigns star ratings to appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators to indicate their energy efficiency. It also administers the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, a market-based mechanism that sets energy-saving targets for large energy-intensive industries, allowing them to trade energy-saving certificates. Furthermore, the BEE develops the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), which sets energy performance standards for commercial buildings. The Bureau is connected to the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, and coordinates with State Designated Agencies (SDAs) for implementation.
The parent legislation, the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, was significantly amended by the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022, which received Presidential assent on December 19, 2022. This amendment, a response to India's climate commitments, empowers the Central Government to specify a carbon credit trading scheme and mandate that designated consumers meet a minimum share of their energy consumption from non-fossil sources. The amendment also extended the scope of the building code to include large residential buildings and broadened the application of energy-consumption standards to vehicles and vessels. The BEE's core mandate of promoting energy efficiency remains, but its role has expanded to include the statutory foundation for the Indian Carbon Market.