WASHINGTON – A Trump administration plan to roll back stricter regulations on energy-efficient light bulbs may have done the impossible – put environmentalists and some utility companies on the same side of an issue.
The new, tougher rules were set to take effect Jan. 1, adding flame-tip, reflector and other bulbs to the list of incandescents that must meet tougher energy use standards, and setting higher standards generally for multiple forms of incandescent lights.
But the Energy Department said in October that it would not impose the new rules, framing the decision as one of choice for consumers who were already moving in the direction of energy-efficient bulbs on their own. The department doubled down Friday, with a notice in the Federal Register that it has determined tougher restrictions on general service incandescent lamps “would not be economically justified.”
That doesn’t make sense to Cottonwood retiree Paulette English, an early adopter of low-energy compact fluorescent light bulbs who soon shifted over to LEDs when they started to become commercially available.
“It’s 100-year-old technology,” English said of incandescent lights. “It doesn’t make any sense to continue with it when there are options that are so much more efficient and cost-effective and non-damaging to the Earth.”
Dozens of power companies, including Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power, appear to agree. They wrote to the Energy Department urging it to withdraw the Trump proposal, saying the continued use of incandescent lights could add hundreds to consumers’ electric bills.
APS spokeswoman Jill Hanks said in an email that the utility “aggressively supports energy efficiency and money-saving programs” for customers.
But when he signed the rollback in October, President Donald Trump criticized the rules for forcing consumers to buy a “much more expensive bulb that doesn’t have a good-looking light.”
“We’re bringing the incandescent bulb back for those that want it,” he said. “We’re going to have both alternatives. We like to have alternatives.”
He reiterated that argument during a Dec. 18 rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, when he said the move may seem like “a little, but it’s big stuff.”
That was also the argument the Energy Department used when it posted notice of the rollback, saying demand for LEDs is increasing and that “consumers who already benefit from the wide availability of LEDs will continue to do so.” The proposal drew more than 63,000 public comments.
The regulations in question were approved in 2017 and were the latest update in a move toward energy-efficient bulb standards that began in 2007. That Bush-era law began tightening restrictions on incandescent bulbs and required agencies to regularly re-evaluate standards or prohibit the sale of bulbs that don’t meet a standard of 45 lumens of light output per watt.
The latest proposal would have added flame-shaped, globe, halogen, high-lumen, vibration service and shatter-resistant bulbs to the list of light bulbs that have to put out a minimum 45 lumens per watt.
The Environmental Protection Agency website says widespread use of LEDs could save 44 large electric power plants’ worth of energy, or up to $30 billion in electricity costs, by 2027. LEDs can last up to 25 times longer than regular incandescent bulbs, which typically burn for 1,000 hours.
Advocates with the Natural Resources Defense Council see the rollback as a step backward in energy efficiency.
