Champion Power Equipment, Inc. (Champion) is a California based company that manufactures electric start generators which contain a small battery charger system (chargers). From February 2013 through August 2016, Champion sold or offered for sale electric start generators which contain non-compliant battery chargers in California primarily through Costco but other online retailers as well.

The California Energy Commission (Commission) staff tested one of these generators at the California State University, Sacramento - College of Engineering Energy Efficiency Laboratory and found them to be in violation of the Appliance Efficiency Regulations governing chargers. These chargers did not meet the energy efficiency standards, were not marked correctly, and were not certified to the Appliance Efficiency Database (Database).

To settle this matter, Champion executed a settlement agreement (agreement) with the Commission on May 23, 2017, for $78,400.00. Champion has also reengineered their chargers to comply with the energy efficiency standard. They also agreed to certify each model to the Database and add the required markings to the product and packaging. Additionally, they have provided compliant chargers to customers that purchased these generators at Costco and repackaged existing inventory with compliant chargers at significant cost to Champion. These compliance measures are estimated to cost over $50,000.00. This investigation started as a result of a market survey done by Office of Compliance Assistance and Enforcement staff. The penalty monies are deposited into the Appliance Enforcement Subaccount established by SB 454 of 2011(Pavley).