100.21 Substantiation of energy savings or safety claims.

(1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Dwelling unit" means a dwelling, as defined under s. 101.61 (1), a modular home, as defined under s. 101.71 (6), a manufactured home, as defined under s. 101.91 (2), or a multifamily dwelling, as defined under s. 101.01 (8m).

(b) “Energy savings or safety claim" means an advertisement or representation that:

1. A product is safe or meets any standard or measure of safety; or

2. A product or a consumer product, as defined in s. 100.42 (1) (c):

a. Increases fuel or electrical efficiency;

b. Reduces heat loss;

c. Reduces relative consumption of or expenditures for fuel or electricity; or

d. Meets any standard or measure of performance under subd. 2. a. to c.

(c) “Insulation" means any material primarily designed to resist heat flow in a dwelling unit. “Insulation" does not include pipe or duct insulation except for duct wrap.

(d) “Motor vehicle" has the meaning provided under s. 340.01 (35).

(e) “Person" means any manufacturer, distributor, installer or seller of any product.

(f) “Product" means:

1. Insulation.

2. Any system or device used in or around a dwelling unit for the heating of space or water or the generation of electricity, including any attachment or additive to the system or device. “Product" does not include any system, device, attachment or additive included in the original construction of a dwelling unit or in the sale or transfer of a dwelling unit.

3. Any fuel additive, including any motor vehicle fuel additive.

4. Any article used in a motor vehicle to promote fuel efficiency. “Product" does not include any original part or equipment in a motor vehicle as sold by the manufacturer or a licensed dealer or any substantially identical replacement part or equipment for the motor vehicle.

(g) “`R' value" means the measure of resistance to heat flow through a material, computed as the reciprocal of the heat flow through a material expressed in British thermal units per hour per square foot per degree Fahrenheit at 75 degrees Fahrenheit mean temperature.

(2) Reasonable basis for claims.

(a) No person may make an energy savings or safety claim without a reasonable and currently accepted scientific basis for the claim when the claim is made. Making an energy savings or safety claim without a reasonable and currently accepted scientific basis is an unfair method of competition and trade practice prohibited under s. 100.20.

(b) An energy savings or safety claim made by a person other than a manufacturer does not violate par. (a) if the person relies in good faith on written materials distributed by the manufacturer and if the claim is limited to the representations in the materials. Any energy savings or safety claim made by a person other than a manufacturer, after the person is notified that no reasonable and currently accepted scientific basis for the claim has been submitted, is a violation of par. (a).

(3) Substantiating the claim.

(a) Any person making an energy savings or safety claim shall, upon written request by the department, submit information upon which the person relied to substantiate the claim. Failure to submit information requested under this subsection is a violation of sub. (2) (a).

(b) The department shall make available to any person any information submitted under this subsection unless protected from disclosure by state or federal law.

(4) Department powers.

(a) The department may, after public hearing, issue general or special orders under s. 100.20:

1. Prohibiting any energy savings or safety claim that violates sub. (2);

2. Regulating the manner in which the energy savings or safety claim is made, including requiring accompanying disclosures to prevent unfairness or deception;

3. Prescribing any test method or other reasonable criteria by which the adequacy of the basis for any energy savings or safety claim is determined; or

4. Requiring corrective advertising to correct a violation of sub. (2).

(c) The department shall cooperate with all other state agencies in the administration of this section, as provided in s. 20.901.

(6) Rule making. The department shall adopt rules that set standards which determine if a reasonable and currently accepted scientific basis exists for an energy savings or safety claim under sub. (2). Adoption of rules is not a prerequisite to enforcement of this section. To the extent feasible, the department shall incorporate nationally recognized standards into the rules.

History: 1979 c. 221; 1983 a. 27 s. 2200 (25); 1991 a. 269; 1995 a. 27; 1999 a. 53; 2007 a. 11; 2017 a. 331.