Environment Texas Blog

Last week, President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu announced "major changes to energy conservation standards for numerous household and commercial lamps and lighting equipment".  The President stated, "Now, I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and our businesses."

The final rule has numerous benefits, including:

    * Avoiding the emission of up to 594 million tons of CO2 from 2012 through 2042 – roughly equivalent to removing 166 million cars from the road for a year;
    * Saving consumers $1 to $4 billion annually from 2012 through 2042;
    * Saving enough electricity from 2012 through 2042 to power every home in the U.S. for up to 10 months;
    * Eliminating the need for up to 7.3 gigawatts of new generating capacity by 2042 – equivalent to as many as 14 500MW coal-fired power plants;
    * Decreasing the electricity used in GSFLs by 15%, saving consumers up to $8.66 per lamp over its lifetime; decreasing electricity used by IRLs by 25%, saving consumers $7.95 per lamp over its lifetime.

In May, Environment Texas joined with leading national, regional and state energy efficiency organizations, consumer advocacy and environmental organizations, as well as state government agencies, utility regulators, businesses and utilities to write Secretary Chu in support of the proposed rule.