Great States Corporation (Great States) is a Shelbyville, Indiana, based company that manufactures Earthwise lawn and garden equipment using small battery charger systems (SBCS). From February 13, 2016 through September 1, 2016, Great States offered for sale approximately 1,130 non-compliant units of lawn and garden equipment in California through various retailers and distributors, including Home Depot and Orchard Supply Hardware. The majority of these were not sold and pulled from inventory as a result of this investigation.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) staff tested two of these units 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 SBCSs. The SBCS did not meet the energy efficiency standard, were not certified in the Appliance Efficiency Database (Database), and were not labeled correctly per the Appliance Efficiency Regulations.

To settle this matter, Great States executed a settlement agreement with CEC on December 13, 2016, for $52,385.00. Great States has also redesigned the SBCS to meet compliance standards, tested all models to ensure that the energy efficiency standard has been met, listed all models in the Database, and added the required labels to the product and packaging. The company is now in full compliance. This investigation started as a result of a consumer complaint. The penalty monies are deposited into the Appliance Enforcement Subaccount established by SB 454 of 2011(Pavley).